A three-year-old girl with an aggressive form of cancer that was “attacking” her bone marrow showed only one symptom before diagnosis: she walked with a painless limp.
Tori Ziebell now wants to raise awareness about the rare symptom that was the only sign her daughter Lylah was seriously ill.
Lylah was a happy and seemingly healthy toddler until doctors revealed on June 27 that she had acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
Tori, 27, noticed her daughter was starting to limp and took her to Frankston Hospital in Melbourne’s south-east, where she had X-rays and blood tests.
The toddler then underwent an MRI at Monash Children’s Hospital, where a doctor discovered a tiny abnormality in her bone marrow.
After more blood tests came in, Tori received the news no parent ever wants to hear: her toddler had leukemia.
“Lylah had no symptoms, she just walked with a limp,” Ziebell told Daily Mail Australia.
She didn’t even complain about the pain. [Doctors] said she would have been in pain from limping – but we had asked her every day, because we clearly found it painful, [and] She always said no.
Three-year-old Lylah Ziebell (pictured with her mother Tori) was a happy and seemingly healthy toddler before she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia on June 27.
Lylah (pictured) began limping just days before she was diagnosed with ALL
‘Her bone marrow was being eaten away and it caused her to limp.’
Lylah has already had two rounds of chemotherapy and although she is walking better now, she has been feeling “a little nauseous and tired” this week.
For the next nine and a half months, she will have chemotherapy on Fridays and routine tests on Tuesdays until she is in remission.
But the cheerful child has not complained once since she was diagnosed.
“She’s just a beautiful, happy girl,” Mrs. Ziebell said.
Lylah has an older brother who is 12, an older sister who is 9, and a younger brother.
Tori and her husband Shane, 35, spoke to the eldest two to explain that Lylah would remain in the hospital for the next nine months.
The couple take turns spending time with Lylah at the hospital, which is an hour’s drive from their home in Rosebud.
Doctors discovered a small abnormality in Lylah’s bone marrow after an MRI in late June
The family of six is pictured in happier times before Lylah’s diagnosis
Lylah is pictured on the right with her father and younger brother after a round of chemotherapy
The family will also have to move, hopefully to a rental house halfway between the children’s school and the hospital.
“The house we live in is old and has asbestos in it,” she explained.
‘And it’s cold, there’s a breeze blowing through the floorboards. We’ve looked into it, but honestly we’ve spent a lot of money in the last week alone.
We have to p‘For parking at the hospital, the gas, the other kids of course, and we also have to pay the rent and bills.’
Tori’s sister Amy Ziebell is a GoFundMe for the family.
“Shane is self-employed and with Lylah’s recent cancer diagnosis, he is spending all of his time at the hospital with Lylah. He is currently unable to work during this difficult time in his life while she undergoes chemotherapy, radiation, blood infusions and the many surgeries she has had and will continue to have,” she wrote.
“Any help for this wonderful young family and their little girl would be greatly appreciated.”