THE MUM of a six-year-old whose limp was initially dismissed as “growing pains” before a shock cancer diagnosis has urged parents to “trust their instincts” and “ask for a second opinion”.
Kate Hibberd, 42, who lives in Dorset with her husband, Stuart, 43, and her son, Jaxon, 12, said her daughter, Meredith, a “tenacious” and “joyful” child, started limping in April 2023.
Kate Hibberd grew concerned when her daughter Meredith developed a limp[/caption]
A nurse practitioner at their local GP surgery said Meredith had “growing pains in her knee”[/caption]
In June 2023 she started to develop a lump on her forehead, and after undergoing tests at their local hospital was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma[/caption]
Kate, a personal assistant for the NHS, thought her daughter could have “bashed” her leg, but decided to take her to their local GP surgery, where a nurse practitioner said she could be experiencing “growing pains in her knee”.
Meredith was sent to a physiotherapy session but they couldn’t find a cause of her pain, so her symptoms were left undiagnosed.
However in June 2023, she started to develop a lump on her forehead which she felt could have been caused by a bump in the night – but Kate noticed it soon started to grow “exponentially”.
Meredith was fast-tracked to their local hospital, where she received an MRI scan which found cancer was “everywhere”, from her skull and neck to her stomach and leg.
Eventually she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma – a “treatable” cancer with an “extremely good” prognosis, Kate said.
Meredith started intensive chemotherapy treatment on what was supposed to be her first week of school – but she is responding well and Kate said she’s remaining positive and “playful” despite her situation.
Kate has also recently established Meredith’s Mission, a charity in her daughter’s name, with the aim of supporting children, parents and families going through childhood cancer in Dorset.
“Growing pains shouldn’t be taken lightly in children, it shouldn’t be dismissed and overlooked,” Kate said.
“Trust your instinct, you know your child better than anyone else on the planet and if you don’t speak for them, they can’t.
“While I feel like we had a good experience, Meredith’s first symptoms were missed and not picked up so always ask for a second opinion, push for further answers.”
Kate said when she first noticed Meredith limping, she “didn’t think too much of it”.
“She didn’t complain about it, it didn’t stop her in any way…I thought maybe she just bashed it but I wasn’t overly concerned at the time,” Kate said.
After a visit to the GP surgery and to see a physiotherapist, a few months later in June 2023, Kate said Meredith developed a “swelling on her forehead”.
“She told me she bumped it during the night and I thought sometimes these little bumps take a long time to come down,” she said.
“I thought it was going down for a while – but then it looked like it was actually getting bigger.”
“It was quite shocking because this lump was growing exponentially, her whole forehead was out of shape and this thing was rapid,” Kate added.
‘Her cancer was everywhere’
An ultrasound was taken on Meredith’s lump in August 2023 where it was discovered she had cancer.
“They didn’t know what kind of cancer it was, all her blood tests were normal and she hadn’t been unwell,” Kate said.
“They scanned her body in an MRI machine and found a massive cancer in her leg, which is why she was limping.”
Kate added the cancer was also present in Meredith’s sinuses, skull, stomach, and the lymph nodes in her neck, saying it was “everywhere”.
“We thought they were going to tell us ‘we’re really sorry but it’s not good news’,” Kate said.
“It was the worst time of our lives, we just didn’t know what to expect.”
It was the worst time of our lives, we just didn’t know what to expect
Kate Hibberd
Meredith had a biopsy on the tumour in her stomach before several subsequent bone marrow biopsies eventually revealed her diagnosis as non-Hodgkin lymphoma in August 2023
She started an intensive course of chemotherapy in the days following her diagnosis in September 2023 which she will finish in January 2026.
Despite the challenges, Kate praised her young daughter for the way she has handled her diagnosis and treatment.
“Kids are quite an enigma around this whole cancer thing,” she said.
“They live for the day and they don’t worry about tomorrow or dwell on the day before.
“Meredith’s tenacity, her ability to be playful and joyful would pull Stuart and I out of a hole sometimes.”
Meredith started intensive chemotherapy treatment on what was supposed to be her first week of school[/caption]
Meredith is responding well to chemotherapy, and Kate said she’s remaining positive and “playful” despite her situation[/caption]
Kate has recently established Meredith’s Mission, a charity in her daughter’s name, with the aim of supporting children, parents and families going through childhood cancer in Dorset[/caption]
By setting up Meredith’s Mission, Kate hopes to support children, parents and families going through childhood cancer in Dorset.
“Ultimately, we want to improve children’s experiences who are going through cancer and help to relieve the financial pressure on the parents and families,” Kate said.
“The charity has Meredith’s energy and when we do fundraising things, it will be with her input.”
To find out more, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/MeredithsMission
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and glands spread throughout your body.
The most common symptom is a painless swelling in a lymph node, usually in the neck, armpit or groin.
Lymph nodes, also known as lymph glands, are pea-sized lumps of tissue found throughout the body.
They contain white blood cells that help to fight against infection.
The swelling is caused by a certain type of white blood cell, known as lymphocytes, collecting in the lymph node.
But it’s highly unlikely you have non-Hodgkin lymphoma if you have swollen lymph nodes, as these glands often swell as a response to infection.
Other symptoms can include:
- night sweats
- unintentional weight loss
- a high temperature (fever)
- feelings of breathlessness
- persistent itching of the skin all over the body
If you have any of these symptoms, speak to your GP.
Source: NHS
