A mother’s instinct may be the reason that her 12-year-old daughter is alive today.
When a lump and rash first developed under Rhianna Chisolme’s armpit, doctors said it was most likely from a cat scratch.
But her mum Amanda Lee, 39, couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong.
Rhianna, who was 10 at the time, had lost 13kg, complained of pain in her arm, and slept with a fan on full blast in the winter because she was sweating so much.
Rhianna Chisolme, 12, was diagnosed with lymphoma after her mother Amanda Lee insisted that doctors conduct a biopsy
Amanda took Rhianna to the hospital three times over the course of six weeks, and each time she said her daughter was hooked up to a drip to receive antibiotics
Amanda took Rhianna to the hospital three times over the course of six weeks, and each time she said her daughter was hooked up to a drip to receive antibiotics.
When a lump and rash (pictured) first developed under Rhianna’s armpit, doctors said it was simply from a cat scratch
Doctors believed Rhianna had developed Cat-scratch disease, in which a scratch infects the lymph nodes, and sent her home with an antibiotic.
The third time the mum-of-five took Rhianna to the hospital, nurses asked why she had returned and not given the tablets time to work.
‘But something was telling me it wasn’t Cat-scratch disease,’ Amanda told Daily Mail Australia.
‘During the third admission I was in the ward, praying my heart out for answers when an ad for lymphoma came on the telly.’
Amanda quickly Googled the symptoms and immediately buzzed the nurse. She was sure.
‘I told her that my daughter had lymphoma,’ Amanda recalled, before requesting that Rhianna have a biopsy – the only way to officially diagnose the blood cancer.
Amanda was in the hospital when she saw an ad for lymphoma on television. She Googled the symptoms and immediately buzzed the nurse (pictured are Rhianna and her siblings)
Amanda told the nurse that she wouldn’t leave until Rhianna (pictured this year) had a biopsy
‘I said, ”I’m not leaving this hospital until she gets one,”‘ the mum recalled. The next week Amanda’s fear was confirmed.
Rhianna was diagnosed with Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and began a gruelling six-month course of chemotherapy.
The young girl cried in her mother’s arms and asked if she was going to die.
Rhianna was diagnosed with Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She is pictured here with her sister, who was born while she was undergoing chemotherapy
A week after her diagnosis, Rhianna (pictured right recently) began a gruelling six-month course of chemotherapy. She was then declared to be in remission
But Amanda said Rhianna, who was also born with a heart murmur, is still dealing with the effects of her treatment
It was a tough road, one that Amanda said left her an ’emotional wreck’ and crying for five weeks straight.
‘I had 12 weeks left of my pregnancy at the time, but got induced at 37.5 weeks to fit it in with my daughter’s chemotherapy,’ she recalled.
After six long months, Rhianna was declared to be in remission.
After six long months, Rhianna was declared to be in remission
But Amanda said Rhianna, who was also born with a heart murmur, is still dealing with the effects of her treatment two years later.
Amanda has suffered from PTSD since the whole ordeal, but said she believes her prayers were answered the day that fateful ad came on the television.
‘I had this gut feeling that something isn’t right,’ she said. ‘My gut feeling was telling me she had lymphoma.’