Astrid completed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treatment 2020

Beginning treatment

The first six months of her treatment were really hard – for her and for the rest of the family. It had a big impact on her physically and emotionally. It was also incredibly distressing for me and my family, thinking about whether Astrid would survive. We also had to consider all the possible side effects that the cancer and treatment could have on Astrid in the future. It’s a lot for a child to face.

She was two years old at the time and I feel like we were lucky with the age at which this happened. She was just old enough to be able to express her feelings and communicate what was troubling her, but not so old that she really understood what was happening. It didn’t bother her at all when her hair fell out, but if that happened now, just 18 months later, she’d be really upset.

Knowing we’re in safe hands

We knew very little about leukaemia at the time – for example we didn’t know that 98 to 99% of children recover to full health. So we had to learn a lot of scary things but it wasn’t all bad news and so much of what we learnt from doctors and nurses really helped us cope with it all. The general atmosphere during her treatment has been very reassuring. Everyone has given off an air of confidence and capability that has helped us to understand that we’re in safe hands.

Astrid appears to be a totally healthy child now

Astrid is on maintenance treatment now. For anyone who met her without knowing this, they would never guess she’s been ill or taking chemotherapy medicine. She’s totally healthy and I’m very lucky to say that she’s the happiest person I know. She’s always smiling and laughing, wanting cuddles and telling me she loves me.

Thanks to charities like Children with Cancer UK

We’ve had a lot of help from charities such as Children with Cancer UK and that’s been a great help too. To have people contact you out of the blue offering to do special things for our daughter and for us is a really lovely thing. So my final thought is thank you very much for what you do for us. It’s made Astrid and ourselves very happy.

Update: Astrid finished her treatment on 30 August 2020.

Astrid rang the end of treatment bell on 8 October 2020

Ringing the end of treatment bell was a really happy time for us. We were in a room with all the medical staff we had grown close to and seeing how happy they were for Astrid was very special. It’s great to have a moment like that to pull things into focus – it’s like taking a step back from daily life to realise what a big event it is.

Lockdown Christmas

Christmas in 2020 during the lockdown was pretty quiet, it was just the four of us at home. Eliza (Astrid’s mum) is from Sweden so we had lots of Swedish Christmas food which the kids love. Three years ago on Christmas Eve Astrid had a high temperature so Eliza had to take her to hospital for a couple of days, so we try to remember that we’re lucky to have Astrid home on Christmas Day. This last Christmas, 2021, we were staying in small cottage in Dalarna in northern Sweden. Astrid and her brother Elliot took some ski lessons and by the time we left, after five days, Astrid was getting about by herself and having a great time. I sometimes think about the huge difference between a time like this and the time when she was diagnosed – how we felt then and how distant skiing in Sweden would have seemed to us. It’s a great thing that charities such as Children with Cancer UK do – to help children and families who are finding it hard and haven’t yet reached that period to remember that it’s coming…

Astrid’s having a really good time in school now. When she started she was really shy. I’m pretty sure that was a result of all the treatment she had. For a two year old child it must be scary to be the focus of all that attention from doctors and nurses, so she was always shy around adults. But it didn’t take her that long to get over it and within a couple of months she was getting on well with her teachers and had some good friends.
Updated in January 2022 

I do feel like we’re very lucky

On the one year anniversary of her last day of treatment we were staying with friends in Somerset and I took a photo of Astrid lying on their bed. I do feel like we’re very lucky but that feeling of luck is maybe just to do with the timing. It’s a real relief to be able to look at how she is now and what our life is like compared to how it was three or four years ago. But those children and parents that are in the hard position we were in then are very likely to be feeling lucky like we are pretty soon.
Updated in January 2022

Update: September 2024

We’re really lucky that Astrid has been healthy and happy in the last couple of years. She still gets regular checks about the leukaemia but that’s all been fine. She talks about it sometimes but because it started when she was only 2 years old she doesn’t have lots of really strong memories about all of it. Fairly recently we moved towns and we were really hoping that Astrid would be OK as she had often been pretty shy and not too sociable. But she started at a new school and seems to be enjoying it and has made good new friends and is happy. So we’re happy too! The new photo here was from a holiday we took to Fuerteventura which she really enjoyed. She’s recently been talking about what she wants to do when she grows up – and she wants to work in the oncology department of a hospital! She has such a positive feeling about what being there was like for her and what these people do that she would like to do it herself when she’s old enough. She’s only 9 now so she may change her mind in the future but it would make us very happy if she stuck to that.

Muir, Astrid’s dad, September 2024