When five-year-old Vaitiare was taken to the doctor with a lump on her arm the size of a mosquito bite her parents were told to give her Panadol. Here’s how the discovery of the seemingly harmless bump left her fighting for her life
- Gladys Hesse took her daughter to the doctor after she complained of sore arm
- Doctor said a lump on Vaitiare’s elbow would subside and gave her Panadol
- But the lump grew and tests confirmed the five-year-old had Ewing’s sarcoma
A little girl is fighting for her life after a ‘tiny, harmless’ lump the size of a mosquito bite on her elbow was later diagnosed as an aggressive type of cancer.
Gladys Hesse, from Logan, Queensland, took her five-year-old daughter Vaitiare to the doctor after she complained about a sore arm but was told the lump would subside, before being sent home with Panadol to cope with the pain.
‘Initially, this was as innocuous as a mosquito bite, a tiny, harmless bump on her arm,’ her mum Ms Hesse told 7NEWS.com.au.
But the lump started to grow and by the next fortnight a concerned Ms Hesse had taken her daughter back to the doctor, who referred Vaitiare for an ultrasound.
Five-year-old Queensland girl Vaitiare Hesse (pictured) was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in late March after initially complaining of a sore arm
The ultrasound initially identified the lump as a tumour but further tests in late March confirmed a diagnosis of Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Ms Hesse, a single mum-of-three said she was left in shock and experienced ‘the full gamut of emotions from sadness, anger, confusion, fear to the hardest one of helplessness’.
‘As a parent you start asking the questions, “Why my baby?”, “How did this happen?”, “Is it something I did?”,’ she said.
Ms Hesse said she struggled to tell her daughter she had cancer and would need to spend the rest of the year in and out of hospital as she undergoes treatment for the cancer, which is currently ‘localised’.
Vaitiare – who is three weeks through a 12-week chemotherapy cycle – is facing the prospect of having her arm amputated.
Vaitiare has been described as a ‘vibrant, smart and beautiful soul’ who is ‘a sociable and happy chatterbox’
Vaitiare has undergone MRI, CAT and PET scans, bone marrow aspiration, a frozen biopsy procedure and several ultrasounds
At the end of the chemotherapy cycle, a surgeon will decide whether the tumour can be removed.
A GoFundMe page has been set-up by Ms Hesse’s work colleagues to rise funds for medical costs and to support the family as she has had to take extended time off from her job to be by her daughter’s side in hospital.
Ms Hesse does not have access to access to government income support as she is a New Zealand citizen.
‘Vaitiare – “the dew of the flower” – is a vibrant, smart and beautiful soul. If you meet her, you’d quickly learn just how infectious her smile is – it illuminates every room she enters,’ the GoFundMe page reads.
‘Vaitiare is a sociable and happy chatterbox – not one to sit still for too long, she loves making new friends, dancing and singing and enjoys wrestling with her brothers.’
‘Within her first week of admission alone, Vaitiare has already endured so much: MRI, CAT and PET scans, bone marrow aspiration, a frozen biopsy procedure and additional ultrasounds.’
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