CRUEL TREATMENT
My daughter, five, survived 800 rounds of chemo, lost her hair – then was bullied for ‘looking like a boy’
by Josie GriffithsA LITTLE girl who's had 800 rounds of chemo while battling leukaemia was then bullied for "looking like a boy" after losing her hair.
Five-year-old Flo Morrison was heartbroken when kids pointed at her bald head in the school playground and shouted “is that a boy in a dress?”
But the little girl, from Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, felt like a Disney princess after having a "life-changing" long blonde wig fitted.
She is due to finish two years of gruelling treatment - which included 20 blood transfusions to keep her alive - in October.
"We were crossing the playground to go home when the comments were made," mum Nikki, 39, said.
‘‘I looked down at Flo and she was holding my hand anyway but she started cowering into me so she clearly heard it too.
It made me so sad thinking how much other stuff had been said which she hadn’t told me aboutNikki Morrison39
"The kids weren’t being purposely unkind. Flo was very quiet and wouldn’t look at me or acknowledge it.
"It made me so sad thinking how much other stuff had been said which she hadn’t told me about.
"At the time I asked her did other people say things like that to her and she said 'yes'.
"I told her it didn’t mean anything and there are boys and girls with short and long hair.
"I told her they knew she wasn’t a boy and that they were only saying it because she had lost her hair."
Nikki was devastated by the comment and called the Little Princess Trust that evening to ask about getting a wig.
The charity quickly arranged for a local salon to make a suitable wig for Flo to try.
"She wanted one with long blonde straight hair which is the opposite to her natural thick, black and curly crazy hair," the mum laughed.
"The charity treated her like a princess. She was so happy and the moment she put the wig on she honestly strolled into school with confidence. It changed her completely.
"I thought 'why didn’t I do this sooner?' I wasn’t expecting such a positive impact.
"It made me realise how much confidence she was lacking beforehand. She no longer felt exposed."
I first thought it was a death sentence - I immediately blamed myself. How didn’t I know she had cancer?Nikki Morrison39
The Disney-obsessed girl lives in with her parents Nikki and Ferg, 36, brother Henry, five, and sister Edie, three.
Just 12 hours later after going to hospital in August 2018, blood tests revealed the worst and Flo started chemo at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
Legal secretary Nikki was supposed to be working that day but resigned after hearing it would take two and a half years for her daughter to recover.
| Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: the facts Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is a type of cancer that affects white blood cells. It progresses quickly and aggressively and requires immediate treatment. ALL is rare, with around 790 people diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Most cases develop in children, teenagers and young adults. Although it's rare, ALL is the most common type of leukaemia in kids. Most of the children affected are aged 0-5. Symptoms include: • pale skin • feeling tired and breathless • repeated infections over a short time • unusual and frequent bleeding, e.g. bleeding gums or nosebleeds • high temperature • night sweats • bone and joint pain • easily bruised skin • swollen lymph nodes (glands) • tummy (abdominal) pain • unintentional weight loss • a purple skin rash If you or your child have some or all of these symptom, speak to your GP as soon as possible. |
"I first thought it was a death sentence," Nikki said. "I couldn’t catch my breath and I immediately blamed myself. How didn’t I know she had cancer? I was in total disbelief.
"I held Flo’s hand in the ambulance to Addenbrooke’s and was thinking 'how can you live if your child dies?'
"The first four months of treatment was horrific. But Flo never complained. She was so accepting.
"I told her there was a bug in her blood and we needed to give her special medicine to fix it."
Flo’s treatment left her feeling exhausted. She could not sit unaided and had to slowly learn how to walk again.
Her hair soon began to thin from the chemotherapy. "I felt so helpless," Nikki said.
"Her hair had begun to fall out gradually and I didn’t want to shave it because I didn’t want her to associate mummy as the person who took her hair away.
"One morning she woke up and it was all over her pillow, but we knew it was coming.
"Initially she said she was fine and didn’t want a wig. We were so focused on her treatment, we didn’t know how much her hair loss had affected her."
We were so focused on her treatment, we didn’t know how much her hair loss had affected herNikki Morrison39
She has had over 50 hospital stay overs but Flo is almost at the end of her harrowing cancer journey.
"Flo is doing amazing now," her mum said. "Physically she is strong and able to do things.
"She has been so positive and has accepted it all. Flo lives in the moment and sees the good in everything, she’s so kind and compassionate."
The impact of losing her hair still affects Flo today - even though it has now grown back.
Nikki said: ‘‘She still insists on keeping her fringe despite it blocking her eyes.
"She says ‘Mummy I don’t want people to see me’ - so the psychological effect on cancer has been traumatising."
Flo has two lumbar puncture procedures left and takes a chemo pill called capecitabine every evening to help her beat cancer.
The family had been planning to go to Disneyland Florida to celebrate the end of treatment but Covid-19 scuppered the trip.
Nikki now worries about he impact of lockdown of those who don't know they have cancer, admitting she wouldn't have taken Flo to a doctor had she fallen ill during the pandemic.
She said: "I wouldn’t have taken Flo to the GP if this was now and it makes me worry how many people are brushing symptoms under the carpet.
"Flo did not seem like an urgent case. Her legs were weak and she was a bit tired, I wouldn’t have risked leaving home for that.
"Even at the time we were sent to A&E, Flo had perked up and was eating fruit pastilles and watching YouTube on the iPad.
"I said to Ferg we were going to be those parents who waste NHS time.
"In the end we were so lucky. The doctor took us seriously and Flo was treated that day.
"I cannot thank the NHS enough. My children are my world.
"Flo has taught me so much in the last two years and her bright smile has kept us all strong for her."
Another mum recently issued a stark warning after her six-month-old daughter nearly choked to death on a toy rattle.