Territory toddler faces cancer battle

WATCHING your child suffer is every parent’s worst nightmare. It’s a reality for Karlie James, whose three-year-old son Jacob has a rare type of blood cancer and has been battling the odds for a third of his young life

Jacob James, pictured (centre) with brothers Leon and Jaydon, has a rare form of blood cancer Picture: MATT TURNER

WATCHING your child suffer is every parent’s worst nightmare.

It’s a reality for Karlie James, whose three-year-old son Jacob has a rare type of blood cancer and has been battling the odds for a third of his young life.

Jacob was diagnosed with T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 13 months ago when the family was living in Katherine and Ms James noticed her son bruised very easily.

“One of his brothers brushed past him, he had his school bag on, and (Jacob) had a little line on his forehead and within 15 minutes it was a massive purple, black bruise om his head,” she said.

“He was lethargic, and stopped eating – he had lots of bruising on his legs.”

Ms James pushed the doctors for answers, and received a response that filled her with dread.

“They tested his haemoglobin at the clinic, and it came back as 57, which is critically low and they knew something was really wrong,” she said. “It was probably the scariest day of my life – by the time they picked it up he was so sick.”

Ms James and partner Aaron were forced to relocate in February 2017, to give Jacob access to treatment in Adelaide. “Having to move has been ... isolating,” she said.

For the young family, it meant uprooting Jaydon, 10, and Leon, 5, as well.

“It’s just so rare – there is a 0.001 per cent or one in 100000 chance of developing this disease and even more rare for my son’s subtype,” Ms James said.

“We needed to get him the best treatment. The doctors are happy with his progress.

“We call him my little superhero, because he is. He was really miserable during treatment, he would never smile. I’ve got so many photos of him just miserable.”

A year on from the move, the James family are feeling the continued financial strain of being away from home and caring for a seriously ill child.

The family have just found out they are expecting another child, and eventually want to move back to the NT to raise their newest addition.

Even after they return to the Top End, Jacob will still need two years daily oral chemotherapy, monthly spinal chemotherapy, and frequent trips to Adelaide for treatment.

Ms James said the family’s belongings have sat untouched in their house for the last 12 months, and would likely need to be thrown away because of mould.

Jacob’s immune system is so low, that salvaging anything will be impossible.

The family will be forced to start from scratch and are crowd-funding to cover some of the costs.

To donate, visit http://bit.ly/2IebaN4