A heartbroken family have said their lives have been turned "upside down" after their toddler's stomach pains were diagnosed as a rare form of cancer that had spread throughout her body.
Claire Formby and Mike Smith first noticed their daughter Ella was not herself during a day out at a museum on March 9.
After the three-year-old was lethargic and complained of pains in her tummy the parents took her to their GP, but doctors said they couldn't find anything wrong.
The couple, from Runcorn, near Liverpool, then took their daughter to urgent care several times throughout the week and eventually the youngster was sent to the children's hospital for an ultrasound.
Doctors found a small mass above her left kidney before an MRI scan found Ella had a 7cm tumour in her stomach - and when an oncologist checked the scan again they found further masses in Ella's neck and thighs.
The youngster had surgery and just 10 days after initially feeling unwell, it was confirmed Ella had stage four neuroblastoma - a cancer of specialised nerve cells called neural crest cells.
Ella's auntie Joanne Formby told the Echo: "We all went to the museum for a day out and Ella was just really tired and really lethargic.
"Usually she is like a little Tasmanian devil but this day she just wanted to be carried, she wanted to get in the pram, which is so unlike her. On the following Monday, Claire and Mike took her to the doctors and got sent home as they couldn't find anything wrong with her.
"They ended up in urgent care and again they couldn't find anything obviously wrong with her. During the course of that week she was just awake every night in pain, crying."
Neuroblastoma is rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer. Following Ella's diagnosis the family were also given the heartbreaking news that the cancer had spread to Ella's lymph nodes, neck, thighs and in her bones.
The three-year-old has already had chemotherapy and will undergo further chemo, radiotherapy, surgery, stem cell transplant and immunotherapy.
Joanne said: "They [Claire and Mike] are just numb, completely overwhelmed by everything. It was so much to take in, in just a short space of time. I think they are just so grateful that we live quite close to the hospital and the support that they have been receiving from them has just been phenomenal.
"I think the first few weeks, when you've not got a clue what is happening, you hear stage four and you think the worst and you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we have got a plan in place now and we know what dates and things are going to be happening.
"It is almost a focus away from thinking the worst. The strength they have managed to find in the last few weeks is nothing short of inspirational."
Ella has been described as someone whose personality "melts your heart" and has an "infectious giggle". Joanne said her niece has struggled following her diagnosis but her "resilience is so inspirational".
The auntie added: "She is so, so brave. She is the bravest little girl I have ever met."
The family are now rallying around Claire, Mike, Ella and Ella's big sister Grace, 13, following the toddler's diagnosis. Joanne has now set up a GoFundMe page to help her family during this difficult time.
To support the family and donate to the fundraiser click here.
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