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It started with regular bouts of illness that doctors dismissed as "daycare germs". But two-year-old Tommy seemed to be catching bugs constantly.
Then he developed a rash. Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, the doctors said. But something didn't feel right, not to Tommy's mother, Kylie Bacon. The rashes seemed too extreme, the illnesses too frequent.
Still, he kept getting better, so the family embarked on a planned trip to the UK, to celebrate Tommy's father's birthday with family.
"The day we left he was completely fine. No fevers. But when we landed in the UK, I looked inside his mouth and he had tonsillitis, but his tonsils were the biggest I've ever seen."
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They went to a walk-in medical centre, who promptly sent Tommy to the nearest hospital. Initially, they were told to go home and give their little boy antibiotics. Only he wouldn't take the medicine, so they were forced to admit him.
Tommy was put on fluids and tests were run — this is when Kylie first heard doctors say the word—'cancer'. Initially, Kylie was in denial.
"My logical mind kept hoping it was a secondary infection. I was trying to find all of the reasons why it might not be cancer."