Battling cancer for two years and taking almost 50 tablets every week, 11-year-old Ellie Thompson, has recovered from the disease.
The young girl from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in February 2011. The year before, Ellie and her brother suffered from chest infections. Her brother soon recovered from the problem but she did not. According to the tests, her blood cell count was low. Her mother, Lindsey Thompson, said that her skin colour changed and her hands were skinny.
"They (doctors) did another blood test and then I got a letter saying we had been referred to Sheffield Children's Hospital. We took her there and they said they wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy. We got the results the same day. It was very surreal. We'd thought it was possible but never voiced it to each other. Our whole world was just shattered," she told The Telegraph.
The girl had to undergo chemotherapy at Sheffield Children's Hospital. Lindsey explained that her daughter had to take nearly 50 tablets each week to stay away from all kind of side effects resulting from chemotherapy. ""The chemotherapy was lowering her immune system which was making her really susceptible to all different kinds of infections and illnesses. In one instance, she had the cold sore virus on her head. It was so obscure. She also developed eczema, headaches, pains in her legs, sickness, dry skin - the list really is endless," she said.
Ellie maintained the list of all her medications on whiteboard and followed strict schedule to consume them. Her mother describes her as 'human rattle.' "We drew a weekly timetable because she was taking tablets at different times of the day and we were so worried we were going to mix up her doses.
Lindsey said that Ellie had to use various skin lotions, creams to stop nosebleeds, different medicines for mouth ulcers, etc. "Once she took 11 tablets at once, and put them all on one spoon."
But now, doctors say the little is in remission. However, she needs to have regular check-ups in future.
