“We had three healthy daughters. We have great careers. We have a nice home. We’ve got it all. And then one day, my child had cancer,” Melanie recalls.
For Melanie and Neil, from Prince Edward Island, needing the IWK was something they never anticipated. But in May of 2019, their second youngest daughter, Georgia, began showing signs of illness. At first, it seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Georgia was just tired and not quite herself. Melanie and Neil assumed she may have a common fever, but what followed was something far more alarming.
Georgia developed a urinary tract infection that needed to be treated with IV antibiotics. Although her infection cleared up, Georgia didn’t fully return to her usual self.
Melanie grew more suspicious that something serious was wrong. She couldn’t help but think of a memory from high school when a teacher shared the devastating news of her son’s leukemia (blood cancer) diagnosis. The teacher explained the symptoms her son experienced, and Melanie never forgot them.
Despite not wanting to believe it, Melanie had a sense deep down that Georgia had leukemia. After all, Georgia hadn’t shown any signs of bone pain, a common symptom of leukemia, until one morning when she woke up screaming that her legs hurt and she was unable to walk without limping.
Knowing she needed to act quickly, Melanie called her family doctor, who took her concerns seriously and agreed to see Georgia immediately. Blood tests were ordered the following day, and Melanie’s worst fears were confirmed—Georgia had leukemia. “Life changes very quickly sometimes,” Melanie says.
Within hours, she and Georgia were in an ambulance, heading out of the province to the IWK. Neil followed in the family’s car.
Melanie and Neil were overwhelmed with uncertainty when they arrived at the IWK. Seeing the sign for “Oncology” made them feel sick to their stomachs. But as they spoke with the doctors, they felt an immediate sense of relief. The medical team reassured them that, thanks to the quick action they took after Georgia showed early symptoms, the cancer had not spread to her spinal fluid. Her chances of recovery were very positive.
Georgia spent several weeks at the IWK, undergoing chemotherapy treatment, before returning home to receive treatments at both their local hospital and the IWK. She had her last chemotherapy treatment in July 2021, which filled her family with immense joy.
