When two-year-old Oliver Norris returned from his Melbourne daycare with a “little cough” in early June, his parents John and Melissa Norris didn’t think much of it.
Their youngest son didn’t have a temperature, and a trip to the doctor resulted in no more than a dose of antibiotics and orders for bed rest.
But the cough continued, and Somerville father-of-three John, 38, told 7NEWS.com.au he wasn’t satisfied with the GP’s diagnosis.
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A second GP gave Oliver a swab test and also advised rest, but warned John and Melissa, 34, to take Oliver to hospital if his condition deteriorated.
It was 10 days after the cough had begun that Oliver woke struggling to breathe.
He was taken to Frankston Hospital, where an X-ray showed there was something obscuring Oliver’s heart.
“They couldn’t see (his heart) properly, and then they worried,” John said.
“There were like 10 doctors and nurses who were all talking, and then we got rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“That’s when they saw that he couldn’t breathe because there was a tumour covering his whole chest, pushing against his lungs and his heart.
“We got told he had a tumour, and then we got told that he (also) had cancer — leukaemia.”
The diagnosis came on June 16, and Oliver was placed on a breathing apparatus for about a week.
Doctors then worked to slowly “chip away” at the tumour.
Oliver is known for “always laughing and smiling”.
But the two-year-old’s treatment at Monash Hospital involves twice-daily doses of steroids, which John concedes “make him a bit grumpy”.
At night, Oliver only wants his mum, Melissa, who “has been amazing”, John said.
“She’s been able to spend every night at the hospital because Oliver gets angry, and he just wants (her).”
Taking leave
Melissa has taken at least six months off work to care for her little boy, and the loss of her full-time wage is noticeable, as John’s sick leave and annual leave are also whittled away.
“They (hospital staff) pretty much tell you: One of you is going to have a minimum of six weeks off,” John said.
Oliver has been back at home at his family’s home for a week now.
But he needs to spend two full days a week having chemotherapy, in what the family calls a “very long road ahead”.
At the hospital, and with a weakened immune system, Oliver has already picked up one bug.
As treatment for this, he was required to carry a small backpack containing antibiotics for about two weeks.
For an active two-year-old, sitting still on a drip for chemotherapy, and keeping the antibiotics backpack on, have been two major challenges.
But John said: “He’s been doing well, I’ll give I’m that.”
‘You know your kid best’
In a GoFundMe raising money to support Oliver’s healing journey, John said he and Melissa “weren’t prepared” for their life to change once they walked through the hospital doors.
“Here we were thinking (it was just) a silly cold that just would not go away,” he said.
Because it’s common for children in daycare to pick up persistent coughs, John said he “didn’t think much” of Oliver’s symptoms at first.
He credits parental intuition for seeking a second medical opinion.
After his first visit to the GP with Oliver, John remembers thinking: “I don’t think they’re right, I think there’s something wrong with him here.”
“My advice for other parents is, you know your child, and if you want a second or third opinion, just go do it, because you know your kid best.
“Trust your instincts.”