Tracey Shortall’s world was turned upside down when her six year old daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia eighteen months ago.
Her.ie caught up with the mum of three to talk about her experience with the children’s charity Barretstown.
“You’ll probably think this sounds like a real cliché, but right up until the 26th of April 2012, we were just a typical family. No major illnesses. No disasters. Three kids, a mortgage, school runs, bills, family holidays and days out.
Then in the space of about three weeks, our lives were turned upside down.
It was shortly before the Easter holidays that we noticed Louise, who was six at the time, was a little bit ‘off-form’. She seemed in a bad humour all the time, which was very unusual, because Louise is one of the most bubbly, easy-going, smiley children you’ll ever meet in your life. I brought her over to the GP, but he felt it was probably just a virus.
Louise just wasn’t right. Kevin knew it. I knew it.
She was complaining of headaches and her stomach seemed kind of hard and bloated. I don’t know whether the doctor knew straight away, but you could tell he thought there was something up. He sent us straight to the hospital. They ran some tests and after a bit of a wait a nurse came in and brought us to an isolation room. At that point I thought to myself that she might have meningitis. Then a consultant came in and when said the word ‘leukaemia’, I just burst into tears.
I don’t remember much of what he said after that because I was just so completely shocked. Within about an hour and a half we were transferred to Crumlin. And within 24 hours, Louise had a central line in her chest and had received her first dose of chemotherapy. Her hair went in the first three or four weeks and she was devastated, because she was so proud of her long hair which was well past her elbows, it was such a huge part of her identity. She’s a real girly girl, people often describe her as ‘pink and sparkly’ as she loves her bracelets, her earrings and little pink dresses.
She was terribly sick, at first from the leukaemia, and then from the treatment and then there was the threat of infection, which is really hard to fight off, because her immune system had been destroyed by all the chemo. So if she ever picks up an infection or gets a temperature, then it’s straight into the car and down to Crumlin. As you can probably imagine, there’s an awful lot of stuff she’s missed out on. She didn’t go to school for months. She lost touch with her friends. And because of the threat of infection we’ve had to say no to birthday parties, going to the cinema, going to the zoo, even just coming grocery shopping with me.
Then along came Barretstown. And everything changed I’d heard about Barretstown before, but I didn’t know a huge amount until our doctor brought it up last August. We put our names down, but I was really nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. I was thinking what we would do if she stared to feel sick while we were at the camp in Kildare.
Of course, the biggest thing for Louise, was that she got to forget she was sick. For five months, all she’d had was medicine and hospital and drips and cancer talk but at Barretstown nobody asked about that. She was six years old, and she was able to go and be a normal six year old, doing things six year-olds like to do. Like messing around, blowing bubbles, riding horses, doing arts and crafts and baking and getting her face painted. The confidence that gave Louise was a huge thing for her. And for me it was magical watching her achieve so much, and feel so proud of herself.
Barretstown has played a huge role in our journey over the last year and a half, it has made us a family again. As a mother who has lived through this ordeal, and is still living through it with my little treasure Louise, I know how important Barretstown is and I urge anyone who can to make a donation or participate in a fundraising event to help another family like mine to go to Barretstown and experience the light that’s still guiding us forward”.
This year, the children’s charity Barretstown is celebrating its 20th anniversary and is calling for support from those considering taking part in this year’s Flora Women’s Mini Marathon on Monday, 2nd June 2014. Registration for the event is open now at www.florawomensminimarathon.ie. After registering, email fundraising@barretstown.org with your name, address, phone number and t-shirt size and Barretstown will send you your Team Barretstown pack!
For more information about Barretstown visit barretstown.org or follow Barretstown on Twitter and Facebook for news and fundraising updates.
