Toddler's Kidney Cancer Journey
- A 4-year-old girl in the UK developed a basketball-sized tumor, and it was initially believed to be neuroblastoma but was later diagnosed as kidney cancer.
- She was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May 2020; her early symptoms present as persistent pain in her stomach, and swelling in the stomach region.
- Symptoms of kidney cancer can include blood in the urine, lower back pain, a mass on the lower back, fatigue, loss of appetite, and weight loss.
Eloise Lonergan’s Cancer Journey
Lonergan was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May 2020. Her early symptoms included persistent pain in her stomach, and swelling in the stomach. She also developed night sweats, and her parents were instructed to take her to the emergency room as soon as possible.
Read More“The consultant said the tumor was growing exponentially like a snowball that was doubling in size as it rolled downhill.”
Following blood transfusions and scans, a 15-centimeter tumor was discovered in the child’s stomach, along with other, smaller tumors. Doctors said it was unclear where the cancer originated. During testing, her abdomen swelled and her health declined rapidly, so the young girl was transferred to a different hospital.
“The consultant said the tumor was growing exponentially like a snowball that was doubling in size as it rolled downhill. You could see it get larger every day. It was so large Eloise’s clothes didn’t fit,” Jenny says. “She was wandering round the ward in a nappy, looking as if she’d swallowed a basketball.”
Doctors initially thought it was stage four neuroblastoma, but it was later determined to be kidney cancer. Lonergan’s parents were told that she needed to start chemotherapy immediately. During chemo treatment, scans showed her cancer wasn’t neuroblastoma, but rather it was Wilm’s tumor, a type of kidney cancer. Thankfully, this type of cancer has a much better prognosis.
After her first round of chemo, the swelling went down, and after six weeks of chemo, it had shrunk substantially. The child had a 10-hour operation in July 2020 to remove her kidney tumor and her adrenal gland, reports The Mirror.
She had an additional 28 weeks of chemo, with radiation therapy, all of which made Eloise feel overwhelmed, understandably.
“Eloise and I were in hospital for the first month and couldn’t see her dad or her brother Dylan. She really missed them. I was the one in hospital with her, allowing people to do all these necessary – but from her point of view, awful – things, so she blamed me,” Jenny says.
The Mirror reports that Lonergan would “kick and scream like something from a horror film,” as a result of feeling traumatized by needles and medical procedures.
In March 2021, she had a scan that showed no evidence of cancer. Today, Eloise is cancer-free.
The Impact of a Childhood Cancer Diagnosis on the Whole Family Jayne Wexler Shares Her Story
Understanding Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancers can develop in adults or children. This year, approximately 76,080 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed. Men have nearly double the risk of kidney cancer compared to women, with approximately 50,000 kidney cancer cases occurring in men, and over 27,000 occurring in women.
Kidney cancer can be treated with surgery, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of these different treatments. It can be assumed that Copeland had surgery to remove her tumor, but we don't know as to whether it was an open surgery or a robotically assisted surgery.
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), signs and symptoms of kidney cancer can include the following:
- Blood in the urine (hematuria)
- Low back pain on one side (not caused by injury)
- A mass (lump) on the side or lower back
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss not caused by dieting
- Fever that is not caused by an infection and that doesn't go away
- Anemia (low red blood cell counts)
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
