Distraught 34-Year-Old Mother Suspected Cancer, But Doctors Misdiagnosed Her 2-Year-Old Daughter With Appendicitis, Constipation
Understanding liver cancer
What doctors thought was constipation or appendicitis turned out to be a rare liver cancer for 2-year-old Grace from Worcestershire, England. The cancer was something her mother, Louise Millward, 34, had always suspected, highlighting the importance of advocacy. for your child as a parent. The most common form of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma, but there are other forms of liver cancer, such as hepatoblastoma, a rare type.
What doctors thought was constipation or appendicitis turned out to be a rare liver cancer for 2-year-old Grace from Worcestershire, England. The cancer was something her mother, Louise Millward, 34, had been suspecting all along.
The cancer went undiagnosed for six months due to her doctor’s error. But Grace had a tumor growing on her liver that was 14 centimeters long. In October last year, she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare cancer that affects only two or three in 1 million children.
“The doctors reassured us that it was constipation and we thought it was all resolved,” Millward told the Daily Mail. “Because what she has in children is so rare, to an extent I’m angry that it was missed.”
“For a 23-month-old child, it’s huge to have a length of 14 inches in her liver,” adds the mother. “That’s why it was sticking out of her stomach. If it had been picked up properly in May (of 2021), it might not have been so big and could have been resolved in a slightly different way.
A Mother’s Intuition
A mother’s intuition is no joke. It was no different for Millward.
In May last year, she began to notice that her 2-year-old lost her appetite and was more tired than usual. Then she took Grace to the doctor and the doctor told her that the symptoms were probably just constipation or appendicitis. Then she was sent home.
Grace, 2, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. Photo via the Daily Mail
But in October, Millward noticed her daughter’s stomach was distended and took her to the hospital. Tests revealed Grace’s liver was inflamed, leading to her diagnosis of hepatoblastoma.
However, concerns about a possible misdiagnosis started when her father and Millward’s partner, Don, also 34, saw Grace fall over.
Once the family was sent home, Millward says, “we had incidents where she fell, vomited, was sick, and showed the least interest. These incidents took place from May to October. … We thought maybe it was a virus or something like that.”
“As I was bathing her one night, I noticed that she had mapped a vein in her stomach. I had never seen this before,” adds the mother. “Her veins and arteries had to go through. the pressure come to the surface.”
Doctors told Millward that Grace’s liver was enlarged and protruding from her body, and that the vein was being mapped by the pressure of her tumor on her arteries.
Grace, 2, pictured spending Christmas at home after a break from the harsh chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Photo via the Daily Mail
*Mother’s Intuition: Move to podium left* This is when Millward took matters into her own hands and looked up her daughter’s symptoms on the Internet and suspected she actually had a rare cancer. And she was right, because on November 2, 2021, the family was told that Grace did indeed have hepatoblastoma.
“We were devastated, but not surprised,” says Millward.
Grace is now receiving aggressive chemotherapy for her rare cancer, in addition to radiation in the hopes that her tumor will shrink. Just a week ago, in late December, the family was informed that Grace’s tumor had decreased by 13% – which was good news for the holiday season.
“We don’t know about the future, but the chemotherapy shrinks the tumor,” says Millward. “Grace’s cure is that it is removed through a resection or transplant. The surgeons have told us she can survive on a third of her liver.”
Understanding liver cancer
Liver cancer begins in the liver – an organ that is located below the diaphragm and above the stomach. The most common form of the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma, but there are other types of liver cancer, such as hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer.
Pancreatic and liver cancer survivor Joel Naftelberg learned to dance to his problems
While we know that any childhood liver cancer is extremely rare, the most common type of childhood liver cancer is, in fact, hepatoblastoma, according to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Blood tests, ultrasound, CT scans, MRIs, and angiograms are generally used to confirm a diagnosis of liver cancer. A liver biopsy, when a small sample of tissue is removed and analyzed for cancer cells, may also be performed.
Often a liver transplant is considered the best plan if the patient is eligible – just as Grace’s mother says about her daughter’s illness. For cases of recurrent liver cancer and cancer that has spread throughout the body, your doctor may consider targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy as the next step.
Advocate for yourself or your child
Just as being your own advocate is important when it comes to cancer care, it’s equally important for parents to advocate for their child’s health. And by doing so, you can ensure that your doctor sees you and your child as individuals in the diagnosis and treatment process.
Advocating for yourself while navigating the medical world
“One of the most important things I did from the start was to ask the right questions,” Alex Echols, a patient advocate and survivor of lymphoma, tells SurvivorNet. “It’s our lives at stake.”
He attributes these questions to ensuring that doctors took him seriously and considered him a partner in his treatment.
Contributions: Abby Seaberg
Learn more about SurvivorNet’s rigorous medical assessment process.
Understanding liver cancer
What doctors thought was constipation or appendicitis turned out to be a rare liver cancer for 2-year-old Grace from Worcestershire, England. The cancer was something her mother, Louise Millward, 34, had always suspected, highlighting the importance of advocacy. for your child as a parent. The most common form of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma, but there are other forms of liver cancer, such as hepatoblastoma, a rare type. What doctors thought was constipation or appendicitis turned out to be a rare liver cancer for 2-year-old Grace from Worcestershire, England. The cancer was something her mother, Louise Millward, 34, had been suspecting all along.
The cancer went undiagnosed for six months due to her doctor’s error. But Grace had a tumor growing on her liver that was 14 centimeters long. In October last year, she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare cancer that affects only two or three in 1 million children.
Read more “The doctors reassured us that it was constipation and we thought it was all resolved,” Millward told the Daily Mail. “Because what she has in children is so rare, to an extent I’m angry that it was missed.”
“For a 23-month-old child, it’s huge to have a length of 14 inches in her liver,” adds the mother. “That’s why it was sticking out of her stomach. If it had been picked up properly in May (of 2021), it might not have been so big and could have been resolved in a slightly different way.
A Mother’s Intuition
A mother’s intuition is no joke. It was no different for Millward.
In May last year, she began to notice that her 2-year-old lost her appetite and was more tired than usual. Then she took Grace to the doctor and the doctor told her that the symptoms were probably just constipation or appendicitis. Then she was sent home.
Grace, 2, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. Photo via the Daily Mail
But in October, Millward noticed her daughter’s stomach was distended and took her to the hospital. Tests revealed Grace’s liver was inflamed, leading to her diagnosis of hepatoblastoma.
However, concerns about a possible misdiagnosis started when her father and Millward’s partner, Don, also 34, saw Grace fall over.
Once the family was sent home, Millward says, “we had incidents where she fell, vomited, was sick, and showed the least interest. These incidents took place from May to October. … We thought maybe it was a virus or something like that.”
“As I was bathing her one night, I noticed that she had mapped a vein in her stomach. I had never seen this before,” adds the mother. “Her veins and arteries had to go through. the pressure come to the surface.”
Doctors told Millward that Grace’s liver was enlarged and protruding from her body, and that the vein was being mapped by the pressure of her tumor on her arteries.
Grace, 2, pictured spending Christmas at home after a break from the harsh chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Photo via the Daily Mail
*Mother’s Intuition: Step Left Inside* This is when Millward took matters into her own hands and looked up her daughter’s symptoms on the Internet and suspected she actually had a rare cancer. And she was right, because on November 2, 2021, the family was told that Grace did indeed have hepatoblastoma.
“We were devastated, but not surprised,” says Millward.
Grace is now receiving aggressive chemotherapy for her rare cancer, in addition to radiation in the hopes that her tumor will shrink. Just a week ago, in late December, the family was informed that Grace’s tumor had decreased by 13% – which was good news for the holiday season.
“We don’t know about the future, but the chemotherapy shrinks the tumor,” says Millward. “Grace’s cure is that it is removed through a resection or transplant. The surgeons have told us she can survive on a third of her liver.”
Understanding liver cancer
Liver cancer begins in the liver – an organ that is located below the diaphragm and above the stomach. The most common form of the disease is hepatocellular carcinoma, but there are other types of liver cancer, such as hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer.
Pancreatic and liver cancer survivor Joel Naftelberg learned to dance to his problems
While we know that any childhood liver cancer is extremely rare, the most common type of childhood liver cancer is, in fact, hepatoblastoma, according to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Blood tests, ultrasound, CT scans, MRIs, and angiograms are generally used to confirm a diagnosis of liver cancer. A liver biopsy, when a small sample of tissue is removed and analyzed for cancer cells, may also be performed.
Often a liver transplant is considered the best plan if the patient is eligible – just as Grace’s mother says about her daughter’s illness. For cases of recurrent liver cancer and cancer that has spread throughout the body, your doctor may consider targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy as the next step.
Advocate for yourself or your child
Just as being your own advocate is important when it comes to cancer care, it’s equally important for parents to advocate for their child’s health. And by doing so, you can ensure that your doctor sees you and your child as individuals in the diagnosis and treatment process.
Advocating for yourself while navigating the medical world
“One of the most important things I did from the start was to ask the right questions,” Alex Echols, a patient advocate and survivor of lymphoma, tells SurvivorNet. “It’s our lives at stake.”
He attributes these questions to ensuring that doctors took him seriously and considered him a partner in his treatment.
Contributions: Abby Seaberg
Learn more about SurvivorNet’s rigorous medical assessment process.
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