A SCOTS schoolgirl has been diagnosed with leukemia after her parents initially thought her tiredness was down to just being a teenager.
Lily-Mae Grogan from Tranent, East Lothian was diagnosed with the disease in December last year after she had been feeling fatigued and dizzy since October.
The 14-year-old had also experienced a loss of appetite, increase in sleep and felt like there was a block in her throat preventing her from swallowing.
Her family didn’t think much of it at first and believed Lily-Mae’s fatigue was just the youngster being a normal teenager.
However, they were devastated to discover her symptoms were actually caused by acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Lily-Mae is currently undergoing her third of four grueling rounds of chemotherapy at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
As a thanks to the Teenage Cancer Trust, the youngster’s mum and dad, Kerry and Chris plan to complete 5,000 lunges throughout April to raise funds for the charity.
Speaking today, Kerry, a staff nurse at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, where Lily-Mae is being treated, said: “We had noticed she wasn’t eating as well, but being a girl at that age we just didn’t question it.
“She spent lots of time in her room so I didn’t even notice she was sleeping more.
“She started taking dizzy spells at school but it was nothing alarming enough to think that anything was wrong.
“I thought she was just being a teenager, there’s so many things going on at that age, you don’t actually comprehend that it’s anything actually as serious as that.
“Not symptoms that would make you automatically think of leukemia.
“We couldn’t have taken her to the doctor any sooner.”
On 2 December last year, Lily-Mae was diagnosed with leukemia and has been in and out of hospital ever since
Kerry, 45, added: “I think we didn’t actually take it on board.
“I held on to hope it was a mistake.
“It was like we were in a dream, it just felt like I was numb.
“You would think that the ward would just be doom and gloom all the time, but it’s actually not like that at all.
“All the kids in the ward always have a smile.
“The resilience they have is amazing.”
AML, which is more common in adults than children, is a specific type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
The family’s Facebook fundraiser has already raised over £1,800 out of its £2,000 target, with the fitness challenge yet to begin.
Earlier this month, 15-year-old Aidan Hogg from Musselburgh, East Lothian was also diagnosed with leukemia after complaining about pains in his lower pack.
To donate towards the families fitness fundraiser for the Teenage Cancer Trust, please visit the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/467491951272562/10225353901058238/
