11 month old starting chemo, any tips?

Hi, my 11 month old baby Lucy will be starting chemotherapy next week for her rabdomyosarcoma.

Looking at the side effects, as she is a baby - how will I know what's going on? Why she is upset? She can't talk so it's up to me.

But how will I know?

 

Any tips from anyone?

Thanks

LucysMum

  • Hi, I want to give you a warm welcome to this forum. I can't think of anything worse than seeing your baby go through this - Lucy is so adorable and precious. It must be so overwhelming and difficult for you to process everything that is going on.

    I hope parents who are/ have gone through something similar reach out to you and give tips and advice. 

    I have 2 cousins who had leukaemia at age 2-4 and age 2-5 (thankfully both 10 now and doing well) so they were older than your little darling. I remember at the beginning of their chemo, they wouldn't express how they were feeling with words but would scream very loudly, try to hit others and cry which is, of course, so understandable and so difficult to watch and their parents must have felt so helpless.

    I remember their parents would hug and comfort them when they cried, and when they screamed, they would wait until it was over and let them punch pillows to get their anger out.

    A lot of the time, they were cheerful, friendly and so funny and their parents spoiled them with loads of toys and fun activities. I also remember them growing in confidence and being so friendly with the doctors and nurses aswell which was so cute as we thought they'd be shy. It's amazing how resilient babies, toddlers and children are - your post has reminded me to donate to childhood cancer charities because they deserve so much more research. Thank you for sharing.