“She fainted in preschool, and thankfully they called an ambulance,”
“Being the parent of a child with cancer, it’s like being in a secret club that no one wants to be in,” says Shirley Keyes, whose daughter, Nicole, was diagnosed with Leukaemia in April 2023 when she was five years old. Her diagnosis came about after she fainted in preschool.
“She fainted in preschool, and thankfully they called an ambulance,” says Shirley. “I was in work when they called me, and I went to the preschool. She became responsive after a minute or two and she was playing hide-and-seek with the paramedics when I got there.
“They tested her blood sugar, and she was found to have low blood sugar levels despite the fact she had eaten a big breakfast only a short time previously. I brought her to Portincula Hospital in Ballinasloe, as I was afraid she may have undiagnosed diabetes. Nicole appeared very well and when we arrived in the ED she was singing and dancing around. The doctor took Nicole’s bloods and informed us that the paediatric team would also need to assess her.
“They then had to take a second blood sample and send it to Crumlin for analysis as there were suspicious looking cells showing up on her initial blood film. Later that evening, the paediatrician in Portincula Hospital confirmed the devastating news to us that Nicole had indeed some form of leukaemia.
“While in Crumlin, the consultant said Nicole was approximately one to two weeks off becoming symptomatic. She ended up requiring blood transfusions, as it was described by the team that the cancer cells were literally spilling out of her bone marrow into her blood and affecting her normal blood cells.”
This marked the beginning of Nicole’s course of treatment, which included multiple trips to theatre for the injection of chemotherapy into her spine, and she also had to have a Hickman line put in for the administration of IV chemotherapy and various other medications.
"I didn’t get to deliver my best man’s speech. There’s no shame in saying that all of that really hit me hard."
“The initial phase of treatment was extremely harsh on Nicole, but we understood that it needed to be done,” says Shirley. “Nicole wasn’t able to walk independently, she would fall if left unaided, she experienced severe nausea, overall swelling from the steroids and joint pain. Her hair started to fall out a few weeks after starting treatment which really did trigger with us that she was indeed a ‘sick’ child.
“She had six months of IV chemo, with intermittent trips to theatre for intrathecal chemo after this she went onto maintenance therapy, which involves her taking oral chemo daily. Once a week we take her bloods at home and send them to Crumlin, her team then advise us on the therapeutic dose of medication for the coming week. She must remain on this chemo until May 2025.”
“She’d also say things like, ‘When I’m finished with cancer, these are the things I want to do’.
“It was very difficult because Nicole has a twin, Aidan, and he got to graduate from preschool and start junior infants in September 2023, but Nicole couldn’t, she wasn’t well enough, so we homeschooled her. It was very emotional, because on one hand, Aidan was progressing, but Nicole fainted in preschool that day and never went back.”
The twins are now both in senior infants and go to school together, and Nicole is back to being the energetic child she was before her diagnosis. She understands that she had cancer, as her parents were open with her about her diagnosis.
“We told her she had cancer, that there were little bugs in her blood and the medicine would get rid of them,” says Shirley. “She’d also say things like, ‘When I’m finished with cancer, these are the things I want to do’. She doesn’t comprehend the extend of a cancer diagnosis, really, she would see it the same way as breaking a toe, and we just told her the medicine would flush the bugs out.
“We’re very lucky. It’s all working, she’s doing well in her treatment, and everything’s going in the right direction.”
“She’s very good now. Being on the oral chemo has just become part of her normal life and she reminds us of it every night. She’s moving around now, her hair’s grown back, she was able to get her Hickman line out so now she can do things like go swimming.
“We’re very lucky. It’s all working, she’s doing well in her treatment, and everything’s going in the right direction.”
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