A BRAVE Redditch girl is battling back from leukaemia and doing her bit to raise money to help other sufferers.
And such is the courage Jasmine Brady’s shown in confronting the disease that she’s the cover star for national charity Leukaemia CARE’s magazine.
The seven year-old was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) last year, after she began to complain of hip pain.
Her symptoms were originally believed to be the result of an inflamed hip, a common ailment in children of Jasmine’s age.
However when her symptoms didn’t improve, a blood test discovered she had leukaemia.
Her mum Karen said: “Everything goes through your head when you hear ‘leukaemia’ and ‘cancer’.
“Will our little girl die or survive? What treatments can they give her? How will my little girl cope? My husband and I were devastated. Then we had to go and tell our 20-year-old daughter Charlotte that her younger sister has cancer. She nearly collapsed on the hospital floor.”
Worse was to follow as tests showed Jasmine required the highest intensity treatment.
“She was extremely upset as she hated taking medicines, hated needles, hated plasters being taken off,” said Karen.
“When she was on steroids, she suffered very bad mood swings and had a huge appetite, which would keep her up all through the night crying she was hungry, even though she wasn’t. Then, when off them and on chemotherapy, her appetite went to lack of appetite, sickness, aching limbs and restless sleeping.
“She lost her hair very quickly. We thought she would be devastated but she coped really well and asked me to shave my head as well so we would look the same.
“So, l did, and raised over £900 for Leukaemia CARE, and as l had long hair l donated mine to the Princess Trust too.”
Jasmine now divides her treatment time between Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Worcestershire Royal while community nurses check on her at home.
“At the moment, she is doing really well,” said Karen.
“There’s not much sickness and she’s eating well, but her next round of treatment is more intense, so that could all change. She has weakness in her legs, which sometimes give way,but she always has a big smile on her face.
“It’s hard to describe how we’re feeling as we are virtually on autopilot, but we just hope Jasmine makes a full recovery. It’s this hope that keeps us going.”
For a free copy of Leukaemia CARE magazine call 01905 755 977, or email [email protected]
