Daisy Wigginton, four years old, had been coughing for days and showing symptoms related to cold. So, her parents, Darren and Ria, gave her Calpol and put her to bedrest at home.
Daisy’s cough continued to bother her and the Calpol proved that it didn’t work. So, she was taken to her general practice, where the doctors told her parents that it was most likely asthma and provided her with an inhaler and steroids.
The treatment worked, but only for about two weeks. The cough, which was describe then as heavy and gutsy, returned with an even higher level of bad.
When she finally became lethargic and hot, Daisy’s parents took her to emergency care. Then, she was taken to Southampton General Hospital, where the doctors finally diagnosed her correctly: Daisy has cancer, SWNS reports.
Daisy was diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, which is similar to leukemia. She’s currently under chemotherapy and has an 80 percent chance of survival.
An x-ray revealed that a tumor created a blockage on her right lung, spleen, and kidneys. Her windpipe is getting suffocated and her breathing became difficult.
Darren, 43 years old, said, “If they hadn’t worked out what this cough was, Daisy’s cancer would have been terminal. When they did a scan and this mass was completely covering the right side of her lung and she had a sheet of tumor over the top of her heart.
“We never thought this cough would turn out to be cancer in our wildest dreams. If we hadn’t persisted it would have been terminal. If we hadn’t taken Daisy to A&E on the 3rd then and said, ‘Enough is enough,’ we definitely would have lost her.”
The parents noticed that Daisy was having problems when she was coughing heavily and her throat felt dry last October.
Darren, who’s a self-employed construction worker, said, “She wasn’t herself – she’s usually running around and we could see she wasn’t keeping up with everything. At the beginning, we thought it was a chest infection and gave her cough syrup and paracetamol.
“We took her to the GP in mid-November and they said, ‘Oh, she has asthma’ and they prescribed an inhaler and a course of steroids. It made her well for two weeks and then the cough came back. That’s when we decided to take her to A&E.
“When we first saw the doctors, they were saying they thought she might have a collapsed lung or pneumonia, which was worrying. Then the next morning they told us it wasn’t that and it was far more serious – she actually had a mass on her lung which was crushing her windpipe.
“When they told us it was cancer, it was a complete and utter shock. It was totally out of the blue. Honestly, it was absolutely horrendous. Everything just empties out of you. It’s difficult to describe just how horrible it is.
“If the GP had done a scan at the start that would have made a lot of sense. They would have been able to detect it straight away.”
Daisy’s cancer was discovered to be quite common among children and teenagers. It occurs when the white blood cells become uncontrollable and grow without limits.
When she was diagnosed last December, doctors created a plan that was for two and half years for Daisy. The plan would involve high doses of chemo to completely target the cancer.
Doctors said that Daisy has an 80 per cent chance of survival. However, there’s still a chance that the cancer can return even if the treatment goes really well.
Ria, 33 years old, said, “Since this diagnosis our worlds have fallen apart. Daisy should be living like any other child of her age but instead is in bed and very wobbly on her feet, feeling unwell and tired.
“This is a huge contrast from the child that she once was. She loved being outdoors on her bike or playing with her sisters but now has lost all interest. Our worlds have fallen apart and we really could do with a little help to ease some of the burdens of life right now.
“We just want Daisy to get better and be cured of this awful disease so that she can enjoy her childhood and the rest of her life.”
