'My little girl had a tummy ache - 24 hours later they said it was cancer'

A mum thought her 'bundle of joy' was just overtired when she began acting 'grumpy' and seemed uninterested in her toys - only to discover it was cancer. Mia Turner thought her daughter Frankie was constipated when she complained of tummy aches on New Year's Eve last year, or that she was tired from the holidays. The 24-year-old mum said Frankie had become uninterested in her toys despite having only just got them as presents, even looking 'angry' when visiting a toy shop. Mia said her parents took Frankie to the doctor who said she had a fungal infection in her mouth and prescribed her antibiotics. But when Frankie's tantrums got worse on New Year's Day and she complained of tummy aches, Mia took her to A&E. The mum of one said doctors kept them in hospital to have an MRI scan the next morning, after feeling a mass in the little girl's left ribcage.

Doctors make their diagnosis

Mia and her husband Adam were shocked to be told Frankie had a 10cm tumour in her ribcage, which had spread to her liver, lungs and spine. The two-year-old girl was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour, a type of kidney cancer that most commonly affects young children. Yet hers was rare in that it was wrapped around her spine.

The mum explained her horror as her little girl's diagnosis 'went from constipation to cancer' in just 24 hours. While it is still early for a clear treatment plan, Mia said Frankie will need intense chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumours.

A GoFundMe had been set up to help with Frankie's treatment, raising more than £20,000 so far - but more money is needed. Mia, from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, said: "We had a completely normal Christmas, Frankie is a very active two-year-old, she is a bundle of joy.

"It wasn't until the 30th of December she started to be a bit irritable and grumpy. We just thought she is over-tired from Christmas. "She was touchy and not very happy. She's a really happy little girl, she's delightful.

"My mum and dad were helping us and my dad took her to the toy shop and even in the toy shop she was disinterested and appeared really tired and grumpy. "My mum and dad took her down to the doctor. They said she had oral mouth thrush, quite common in toddlers and she would have antibiotics.

"Frankie was completely restless, shouting, we thought she was just over tired. We tried to put her to bed and she was just not going to bed. She didn't really want any cuddles or to be picked up. She was restless, running between our bedroom and the living room. "She was just angry. I got up to work around 6am and Frankie hadn't slept at all. I tried to pick her up and she went 'no my tummy hurts.'

"I thought maybe she is constipated. She said 'my knee hurts.' Within an hour Frankie started screaming, she was like 'get out. I don't want you to hear, go away.' "I was really taken aback. She was really angry to the point when she was screaming. It was coming across like she was mentally unwell, she was screaming things that didn't make sense. "I tried to touch her and every time I went near her, she was going ballistic. I phoned 111 and they said go to our local A&E. The doctor felt something quite hard on her left side. They recommended we stay overnight and go for an MRI scan. "They said it can be a build-up of constipation. We thought they'll give her some laxatives and we can go home. She had the MRI scan. The doctor came to see us and she asked us to step into another room. "The doctor said 'we found a tumour around Frankie's left kidney that's about 10cm in size. It has spread into her liver, lungs and her spine.' At that point I personally still didn't think about the C word. I thought she would just need surgery. Adam asked if it was cancer and they said yes.

"We both broke down. I said 'is Frankie going to die?', and she said 'we don't know'." Mia and Adam were shocked by the diagnosis and now fear for their daughter's life.

'It was the worst night of our lives'

Mia said Frankie has now lost feeling in her legs due to the tumour being wrapped around her vertebrae. Mia said: "I was really confused on how it went from constipation to cancer. You see things like this on the news but you never think this will happen to you.

"We didn't have many questions. After we were told they don't know if she'll survive, we didn't want to know any more. That was the worst night in mine and Adam's lives. We didn't know if she had days, weeks, months and if it was treatable.

"By Sunday morning, Frankie wasn't moving her legs. The tumour is wrapped around one of her vertebrae which leads to her legs. Within 24 hours Frankie couldn't walk. They explained this is an extremely fast-growing tumour. It was a Wilms tumour.

"It's incredibly rare that it goes into the spine. I thought if Frankie is going to die, I need to make her last time on earth the best time ever and I'm going to spoil her rotten. We're absolutely terrified, we are so scared. We are suffering from trauma from when we were told.

"We are in constant fear, we're terrified. But we're just taking it one hour at a time." Looking further ahead, Mia said Frankie's treatment could lead to her going through menopause early in her life.

Mia said: "We have a rough treatment plan, six weeks of intensive chemo, a keyhole surgery through Frankie's bellybutton to remove one of her ovaries. She will potentially go through the menopause at an early age.

"They'll do repeat scans to see if there's any changes and do the big operation to remove the big tumour and remove her left kidney. They will consider doing a spinal surgery if the tumour doesn't go. We honestly thought this was just constipation or an over-tired two year old."

You can donate to Frankie's GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-turner-family-in-their-time-of-need

What is Wilms tumour?

Wilms tumour is a type of kidney cancer that mainly affects children and are also called nephroblastomas, according to Cancer Research. Kidney cancer in children is less common than adult cancer, but Wilms tumour is the most common type.

About 85 children between the ages of 0 and 14 years are diagnosed with Wilms tumour each year in the UK. Wilms tumours usually only affect one kidney (unilateral). But in fewer than 10 out of every 100 children (less than 10%), it can affect both kidneys (bilateral).