Lulu

When Lulu started school in 2017, she absolutely loved it, making friends straight away and being the first person to help other children struggling to settle in.

But by the middle of November, she just wasn’t herself. She was tired and had a loss of appetite.

“We wondered if it was starting school full-time. But by the beginning of December, she had lost weight too, so we took her to the doctors,” says dad, Rob.

The blood test showed she was very anaemic, so she was given iron to supplement her diet. But with no improvement and now a pain in her groin, Rob was insistent the doctor referred Lulu to the hospital.

“After a week of tests, the hospital did an MRI scan and found a mass in her little tummy and we were told she had some form of cancer. That evening, Lulu was transferred to Addenbrooke's hospital for a biopsy and the next day we were told she had neuroblastoma. Further tests showed that the cancer had spread to her bones, bone marrow and lymphatic system," says Rob.

Starting treatment the next day

Lulu initially had nine rounds of chemotherapy which was followed by a seven-and-a-half-hour operation to remove her main tumour. Then there were two more doses of chemotherapy, a stem cell harvest and then high-dose chemotherapy, which involved 17 doses in one week.

“The impact of this high-dose chemotherapy was that it completely wiped out her immune system so she had to be kept in isolation for 33 days to ensure she was not impacted by any bugs or viruses,” says Rob. Lulu lost her beautiful blonde hair, which was very difficult for Lulu and her parents. She also faced other side effects too, like sore throats, nose bleeds, and pain throughout her whole digestive system.

Lulu then had three weeks of radiotherapy and six months of immunotherapy.

“Lulu and her mum, Clare, spent over 130 nights in hospital this year and many more as an outpatient, while I’ve continued working full-time to pay the bills and keep a stable home for our 11-year-old son, Archie,” says Rob.

“Clare had to give up her dream job working with children and when all this is happening you struggle with the cost of cancer, being one income down. The hospital is 40 miles away from home and this year we have done an additional 20,000 miles.”

Lulu’s family hoped that after her immunotherapy, her end-of-treatment scans would give her the all-clear and they did, but despite this, her future remained uncertain. Her family wanted Lulu to access treatment in New York – a clinical trial which aims to reduce relapse rates. Her parents launched an appeal to raise £162,000, a target that was met in June 2019. Lulu and her family travelled to America and she completed the vaccine trial in 2020. She is now 11 and remains in remission!

<sub>Solving Kids' Cancer UK's children's fundraising campaigns

Lula previously had a fundraising campaign with Solving Kids' Cancer UK. Funds raised through a child's fundraising campaign are spent on their treatment and pastoral needs. Any remaining funds, and all funds raised after five years post the end of the child's treatment, are used to support other children and families through Solving Kids' Cancer UK's activities.</sub>