Nuh was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) on 18 March 2022, when almost eight months old. He sadly passed away on 18 October 2023. His mother, Umarah, shares his story.
Nuh didn't show any concerning signs until a few days prior to his diagnosis, when he started vomiting blood and had something similar in his nappy. We were completely shocked when we learned he had cancer, and after two long weeks in the intensive care unit (ICU), under the amazing care of the haematology team at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, he finally picked up.
He was responding to his treatment wonderfully and we thought the worst was behind us. But unfortunately, he relapsed twice, while he was still recovering from the side effects of his chemotherapy, at the hospital. This meant that he needed an urgent bone marrow transplant, which he received on 15 December 2022.
We were finally home two months later, with all the equipment and medicines he would need, with us akin to being half a nurse ourselves when looking after him. However, during a regular check-up just a month after coming home, we found out his cancer was back. This time we had a completely different conversation with our doctor, discussing chemotherapy as a palliative care and potentially a second bone marrow transplant.
On 16 August, he had his second transplant. We were still at the hospital, recovering from the complications of the transplant, when he relapsed for the fourth time. He passed away just one week later, on 18 October 2023, on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. He was always a fighter, despite everything he went through, and is now in a better place, free from pain.
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