A mum has said she feels 'let down' after her three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer after having stomach issues her whole life.
Claire Formby, 38, claims doctors at Warrington Hospital missed Ella Formby-Smith's cancer and instead told her it was constipation or a viral infection. The hospital has now launched a probe.
NHS worker Claire said toddler Ella was checked over three times before she was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma - a rare and aggressive cancer. Ella is now having chemotherapy.
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And Claire, from Runcorn, Cheshire, said she had been told her daughter could have been born with the cancer. She said: "I'm just feeling so let down with the number of times we’ve been back and forth. I just can't get my head around how it’s not been detected in three years of going to hospital with stomach problems.
“She’s been diagnosed as lactose and dairy intolerant and every other time we’ve been we were told its constipation or a viral infection."
Claire said Ella had been back and forth to doctors due to stomach issues since birth. However, when the issues began to become more severe in May, 2023, Ella began to spend more time in Warrington Hospital.
Claire claims she was told initially Ella was constipated or had a viral infection. However, when her condition continued to deteriorate, she insisted further investigations were done.
Ella was then referred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she underwent an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed a large mass at the back of Ella’s stomach – and after an MRI the following week, she was tragically diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma.
Now, Ella is on her seventh round of chemotherapy and is facing surgery, a stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and immunotherapy.
"From when she was born, she had problems with her stomach,” said Claire. “I don’t understand why they didn’t send her for scan with her history and how much she suffered with stomach problems.
“I was just told it was a viral infection until we got to the point where she was that bad and I wanted something done. It gradually got worse over four weeks until she was crying with pain curled up in bed.
“We took her to the doctor and they said it was viral at first, then we took her to the doctor again and they were sending her for celiac tests. Gradually it got worse again so I took her to Warrington hospital, but they wouldn’t do bloods - they made us wait two weeks to have bloods done.
“We went back again and they were trying to get water sample off of her to tell us it was an infection but I refused. It was only lucky that someone in Warrington had worked at Alder Hey and came down to see her - because she wouldn’t wee they sent her to Alder Hey.
“As soon as she went to Alder Hey it was 100 miles an hour – in the early hours of Saturday they took her down for ultrasound which was done instantly and picked up a mass in the back of her stomach. She is now on her seventh round of chemotherapy, she has it on tenth day for 80 days.
“After chemo she has surgery then she’ll have chemo, then radio, a stem cell transplant, and immunotherapy. It’s up and down at the moment, it’s good days and bad days.
"She’s got no energy and no mobility at all for her to run around or play, it’s taken it right out her. She’s amazing and was active and bouncing around all the time, just a happy three-year-old who went to nursery - she loved nursery, so it’s literally just changed her whole lifestyle.”
A spokesperson for Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust is very sorry to hear about Ella’s diagnosis at the regional specialist children’s hospital. An investigation into the care provided to Ella during her hospital admissions at the Trust is being progressed.
“We appreciate that this is a very difficult time for Ella’s family, and we will do all that we can to support Ella’s family during the investigation, ensuring that all findings are shared as soon as possible.”
Claire is now trying to raise money for Ella's care. For more information, you can visit Ella's GoFundMe here.
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