A four-year-old boy is fighting leukaemia – after a GP initially diagnosed him with GROWING PAINS.
Little Jaxson Clark was initially given Calpol to deal with aching pains in his legs – which a GP believed were simply growing pains.
But after several days, he developed a swollen neck and saw the doctor.
Within hours he was rushed to Bristol Children’s Hospital’s A&E, where scans showed he had Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Jaxson’s parents Sophie Kenvin and Mitch Clark, from Yate, was left devastated by the news – getting very little sleep ever since.
Sophie, 28, finally got to see a doctor in person after ringing multiple times regarding Jaxson’s high temperature.
She said: “The doctor asked me to get Jaxson to walk for me – I said ‘that’s not a normal walk.’
“He said he couldn’t feel anything and that his joints were okay – but he rang paediatrics just in case and said he had a swollen neck, legs were aching.
“They said straight away he needed to come in and look at him and he was diagnosed that day.
Sophie is thankful they spotted the cancer as early as they did – but feels it was too difficult to finally get to see a doctor in person.
“I had googled the symptoms the day before and I did see leukaemia – but just thought ‘nahh it can’t be that,’” she added.
“They said because its acute – we’d caught it early so I think he only had it for a couple of weeks.
“They have a high success rate for treating leukaemia.
“I think the problem with GPs is it’s alright if you’re an adult and you can explain your own symptoms – but no GPs are paediatrics.
“I think they should have one paediatric in every surgery.
“The fact that I could google the two symptoms and spot leukaemia shows they had no clue.”
Jaxson has been in and out of hospital since first being diagnosed on November 25.
Thankfully on the final day of the first phase of chemo – samples taken from his bone marrow to determine the level of leukaemia left came back zero.
“It made the last four weeks of hell worth it,” Sophie added.
“He’s due to start school in September, but he’ll be in the maintenance stage of his care, so fingers crossed he’ll be okay.”
Sophie and Mitch take it in turns to visit Jaxson while he is in hospital to ensure someone is home with their one-year-old daughter, Bella.
Sophie said: “We’re grateful that we’re a strong couple, constantly being away from each other for so long.”
Jaxson lost his job as a barber after the second lockdown, and with Sophie not working there were worries over how the family would cope financially.
A crowdfunding page has thankfully been set up by friends of Sophie and Mitch while they care for Jackson – which Sophie says should keep them going for a couple more months.
The donation page can be seen here:
