A mum was left horrified after her nine-year-old boy’s “growing pains” turned out to be cancer.
When her son started exhibiting unusual symptoms, Jessica Flack, from St. Neots in Cambridgeshire, knew something was wrong.
But after multiple visits to GPs and hospitals, pushing for answers, the family were allegedly told they were “overreacting”.
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Sadly, Jessica’s maternal instinct turned out to be right.
Dylan was eventually diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that impacts the bones and soft tissue, and usually affects children and young adults.
He was given a 50/50 chance of survival and put on a relentless treatment including 14 rounds of high-strength chemotherapy over 14 months, as well as proton beam therapy, radiotherapy and oral chemotherapy – the latter of which is still ongoing.
Jessica is sharing the family’s story to urge other parents to demand more from doctors when they sense something is amiss.
“Dylan was unfortunately misdiagnosed for nine months before his cancer was spotted,” she told Need To Know.
“Although I visited multiple health professionals multiple times, they were adamant that Dylan was overreacting and his pain was caused by growing pains.
“I can’t even really describe how it felt [when we finally got his diagnosis].
“The prognosis was not good, they gave him 50/50 and that was before they realised it was inoperable.
“It felt like the ground had swallowed me up.
“It wasn’t even at the back of anyone’s mind, but when they realised it was cancer no one needed to actually tell me that’s what they thought, I just knew.
“Dylan was great, he has been through it all, he struggled with me being upset the first few days, which made me realise I needed to be strong for him and I have managed to be ever since.
Despite the ordeal he’s going through, the bubbly boy is staying as active as possible, doing some of the things he loves most including spending time with horses.
His hero is Ben Atkinson, an equestrian trainer and performer.
Dylan said: “I love to ride, dressage is my passion, and I dream of competing at the Paralympics one day!”
Unfortunately, the cancer treatment means the child doesn’t have the same strength he once did.
Jessica said: “Dylan has always ridden but before he was poorly he predominately jumped, however now for me that’s too risky!
“Just riding is a huge risk to him so we stick to dressage now which he’s developed a huge love for!
“He was told to stop using his left leg immediately and the hospital gave him some [crutches] and a frame straight away.
“He got on okay with them but he found them quite uncomfortable and we had to wrap the handles with vet wrap to help cushion them!”
Eager to make sure her child was as comfortable as possible, the mum found an alternative from Cool Crutches and Walking Sticks.
Dylan has since gotten involved with the company directly; he’s a brand ambassador and has helped design a new children’s crutches range.
Dylan’s mother is emphasising the need for greater awareness of childhood cancer, expressing that it is often a taboo subject, and lacks the recognition it needs to spot the signs.
She said: “We need more awareness of childhood cancer.
“It’s just not advertised or pushed out enough, it’s not on the TV like other cancers are and it’s very much a taboo subject.
“It needs to not be, we need to know the signs as unfortunately 9 out of 10 parents I talk to had to push hard for their children to be diagnosed.”
Sharing some advice for others who may be going through something similar, the mum recommends to “keep positive and busy”.
She added: “It’s really all you can do!
“I could easily sit at home crying myself to sleep every night.
“Of course I have done just that multiple times over the past 14 months, but it would be no help to anyone, especially Dylan!
“[As for the future], me, I don’t really have any plans apart from making Dylan’s life the best I can.
“Dylan is going to work his socks off as he already does to make all his dressage dreams come true!”
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