Rockhampton mum Melissa Murray’s push after son Noel is diagnosed with Leukaemia

A Queensland mum is pushing parents to always request a blood test after her toddler was diagnosed with a deadly disease after initially receiving a different diagnosis. See her story here.

A Rockhampton mum is urging families to always request a blood test if their kids are unwell, because it could save their lives.

Her push comes after her own son Noel, 2, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia T cell, seven days after first being diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus (EBV).

In January this year little Noel developed fevers and had lumps on either side of his neck and was quite lethargic – all of which are symptoms of both leukaemia and EBV.

He was taken to the Emergency Department at the Rockhampton Mater Hospital where he received the EBV diagnosis.

But a blood test later revealed something more sinister.

“We took him back a week later and they’d noticed his tummy had grown, the leukaemia was in his liver and spleen,” she said.

“His lymphatic system was not draining fluid. He had a blood test and ultrasound and was taken to the base (Rockhampton Hospital) and flown straight to Brisbane … his cell count was 900.

“He was diagnosed with leukaemia at 2am on February 7 at the children’s hospital and we haven’t left.”

Since he was diagnosed, Noel’s dad Jason and his twin sister April have been travelling back and forth from Rockhampton to Brisbane to be by Noel and Melissa’s side.

Melissa said Jason had changed his shifts at work to 10 hours to be able to take time off at the end of the week to travel with their children to and from Brisbane.

She said their other children were also missing out on school to be with their little brother.

Since being in Brisbane Noel has undergone what Melissa described as “quite invasive” treatment.

Noel had a cell count of 900 when he was diagnosed.

“Initially he was given a high dose of chemo which was expected to put him in remission in the first month, but it didn’t so now he’s in a consolidation phase,” she said.

Noel’s family now waits with bated breath to see how his little body will take his current round of treatment.

Melissa said if Noel’s t-cell is undetected he will continue chemo, but if t-cells are detected, preparations will be made for him to have a bone-marrow transplant and stem cell treatment.

“None of his family is a match, even his twin isn’t a match,” she said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family as young Noel continues to battle the disease.

As Noel’s treatment continues, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help his family financially.

So far more than $3500 has been raised for the family.

Melissa said the support they had received so far was heartwarming.

“It’s been amazing, throughout the whole experience we’ve been trying to reassure him and have a positive outlook,” she said.

“With help of the donations it’s made things a lot easier for us so we can put our focus completely on noel and not have the pressure of bills piling.”

Ms Murray encouraged parents to request a blood test to get results sooner rather than later.

“I can’t stress enough, always push for a blood test because lumps aren’t always infection, it’s extremely important to just get a full blood count to tell if it’s an infection or something else,” she said.

“We would have received a diagnosis sooner rather than later … the doctor was quite convinced it was EBV and in seven days he developed another lump … we could have lost him.”