Last weekend marked one month since we found out our youngest daughter has Infant Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

On Thursday 10th April our world was turned upside down when our precious baby girl Melody was rushed to Southampton General Hospital in an Emergency Ambulance at just 4 months old.

After spending 2 days in Poole Hospital, where the doctors had originally diagnosed her with Bronchiolitis, Melody’s symptoms worsened and a blood test was carried out. Within minutes our lives changed inconceivably. We were told that our baby daughter has Leukaemia and that she must be urgently transferred to Southampton for treatment. Melody was rushed to the High Dependency Unit in Poole to have her first platelet transfusion as it wasn’t safe enough for her to travel without it. When the transfusion had finished the PICU Retrieval team were waiting for us and took us to Southampton where Melody spent the next 25 days in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Melody arrived with the highest white blood cell count the doctors had ever seen. She deteriorated rapidly and couldn’t breathe for herself so she was put on a ventilator and sedated. A sample of Melody’s bone marrow was taken to help determine her diagnosis. Melody began her first course of Intensive Chemotherapy the next day and we saw her white blood cell count begin to decrease. She required several blood and platelet transfusions each day, along with lots of medication. Melody had to have a central line fitted as well as cannulas in both arms and legs. It was days until she was strong enough to go to theatre but when the time came the surgeons fitted a Hickman line, a line that goes directly into an artery in her heart to administer the ongoing medication, fluids and blood transfusions she needs. Melody then became Hypertensive and had to be rushed for CT and MRI scans which showed she had suffered two strokes causing damage to two areas of her brain. Melody also experienced Kidney Failure and had to be put on a Dialysis Machine so that the machine could do the job of her kidneys whilst hers weren’t able to function. She had X-Rays and Ultrasounds most days to monitor the functioning of her organs.

After 13 long days the ventilator was taken away and finally we could hold our baby girl in our arms again.

Melody was still experiencing Hypertension and had an extremely high heart rate. She then became severely unwell with an infection and had to begin four of the strongest antibiotics to help her fight it.

On Thursday Melody left Intensive Care and she is now in the Children’s Specialist Cancer Unit where she will remain for a minimum of six months whilst she undergoes several courses of Intensive Chemotherapy. Melody will need to have weekly Lumber Punctures where the doctors will put a needle into her spin to deliver chemotherapy directly into her Cerebrospinal Fluid. She will have a further bone marrow sample taken when she is strong enough to be able to go back to theatre. The results from this will tell us if Melody will need a bone marrow transplant. She also has a Nasogastric Tube to enable her to have expressed breast milk as she continues her daily fight with this nasty disease.

We are heartbroken. This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and we are still trying to process how this has happened to our little girl at just 4 months old.

Infant Acute Myeloid Leukaemia is a rare condition that is normally only seen in adults, and Melody’s consultant, with over 30 years of experience in Paediatric Oncology, told us Melody is the most complex patient she has ever seen.

This fundraiser has been created to help support Melody and our family through this incredibly difficult time. The road ahead is long, complex, full of uncertainty, and emotionally and financially exhausting for our family. We are navigating this as best we can whilst also caring for Melody’s older siblings at our home in Poole, 1 hour away from where Melody is being treated.

All money raised will go directly towards:

We’ve set a modest goal to help with immediate expenses, but this is just the beginning of a long journey. Your support, whether through a donation, a share, or simply keeping us in your thoughts and prayers means the world to us.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, sharing, and standing with us and with Melody. And a special thank you to all the medical professionals that have been a part of Melody’s story so far. These people are our heroes. Together, we can give her the strength and support she needs to fight.

Rachel and Kevin