Mother and baby daughter BOTH diagnosed with cancer
Last updated at 8:32 PM on 9th August 2011
A mother and her baby daughter are both facing a battle against cancer.
Kezia Fitzgerald, 27, of Massachusetts, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January eight months after giving birth to her baby Saoirse.
In May, her baby daughter was also diagnosed with cancer and now both together fight to survive.
Mother and daughter: The Fitzgerald's face an epic battle with their toddler as both mother and daughter battle cancer
Mike, Saorisa and Kezia Fitzgerald: Kezia was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and Saorisa with Neuroblastoma in May
Of her own diagnosis, Kezia said: 'it was definitely a shock, of course at first we were scared.'
On the day she posted on her blog: 'New Mom….. New Cancer.'
Undergoing chemotherapy, she was determined to beat it, 'There’s no other options, you can't just crawl into a hole.'
But then - devastatingly - Saoirse, who is now fifteen-months-old, was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a common cancer in infants.
Different outcomes: Kezia's cancer is in remission while little Saorisa continues to battle with medication, chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant scheduled
Mike Fitzgerald, Saoirse's father said: 'I just couldn’t talk. I just kept crying. We all just sat there, holding each other.'
Now, after three months battling the disease together, Kezia's cancer is in remission but little Saoirse needs surgery to remove tumours.
Playing: Like most toddlers, Saorisa is 'ansty,' 'hyper' and eager to learn
She will also need a stem cell transplant in January.
'She is very hyper and very antsy. She loves learning; she’s not letting it get her down,' her father Mike said.
Kezia also remarked how facing the disease together has made them close: 'it does make it a little bit easier to keep on top of side effects because I know what she feels like.'
Doctors have said the youngster is responding well to the cancer medicine and that the two cancers were not linked or passed on from mother to daughter.
The family live in Danvers, Massachusetts - half-an-hour north of Boston.
With both parents no longer working, the Fitzgerald's have started a fund to pay for medical expenses, available on Twitter @fitzcancerfund.
MEDICALLY SPEAKING...
Hodgkins Lymphoma:
- Kezia suffers from a cancer which typically affects men aged 15-35 or over 55.
- Since many sufferers are young, its is common for them to live 40 years or more after treatment
- Up to 98% of patients survive if they are given a favourable prognosis, whereas only 85% of patients survive of those with worse outlooks
Neuroblastoma
- Saorisa suffers from the most common cancer in infancy
- 650 new cases each year in the US
- Diagnosis is difficult as first symptoms are vague - fatigue, loss of appetite, fever
- Between 20% and 50% of high-risk cases do not respond adequately chemotherapy
- Most survivors have long-term effects from such as hearing loss, growth reduction, thyroid function disorders, learning difficulties, and greater risk of secondary cancers
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024209/Massachusetts-mother-Kezia-Fitzgerald-baby-daughter-cancer.html#ixzz1UcmD4vzZ
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