A girl who became the surprise star of TV show Secret Life of Five-Year-Olds has been treated for a cancerous tumour – which weighed more than she did when she was born.
Brave Daisy Mason, seven, won the hearts of viewers of the Channel Four show with her spirited attitude and was the first child in a wheelchair to be featured on the show
The schoolgirl with Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy appeared in the 2016 series.
But her mum revealed a 1.5kg fast-growing tumour was found in on her adrenal gland earlier this year, and she recently underwent a nine-and-a-half-hour op to remove it.
After months of treatment, tests show she’s now “clear” and she’s already back at school, playing with her friends, swimming in rivers and going camping.
Her mum Lucy Mason, 37, East Winch, Norfolk, said: “We were initially told it was an enlarged spleen, but it was a massive tumour in her adrenal gland.
Daisy weighed 15kg before the op, and went down to the size of a three-year-old.
“She’s doing really well since she had the operation to remove it.
“She had the adrenal gland removed and the tumour was peeled off her pancreas.
“About three weeks ago she had a bone marrow test to see if it had spread, which came back clear, so she hasn’t needed to have chemo.
“She’s really been through it but she hasn’t changed a bit.
“She’s still in high spirits. We went swimming and kayaking at the weekend.
“She’s back at school and going horse riding.
“It’s not affected her one bit.”
Daisy was born nearly 12 weeks early and then diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy when she was nine months old.
Medics at the time said her condition would make it difficult for her to move all four of her limbs and her development would not progress beyond that of a four-year-old.
But she has excelled, and took part in the Channel 4 series which follows five year olds as they play and interact.
And in August last year she took part in a triathlon, and with a little help from dad Adam, 32, she swam 150m, pushed herself 1km on her trike, and wheeled 3km in her wheelchair.
In February, Lucy noticed that her daughter seemed to be eating less and was suffering from high temperatures.
She took Daisy to A&E and pushed for a scan on Daisy’s stomach to be carried out.
It revealed it was a ganglioneuroblastoma- a combination of a benign tumour and aggressive cancer cells.
“I think sometimes as a parent you just know when something is wrong,” Lucy said.
“Her eating had gone down, and she had lost weight.
It measured 15cm x 12cm x 11cm and weighed 1.5kg – more than Daisy did when she was born at only 1.1kg.
For the past few months she has been going back and forth to Addenbrooke Hospital, Cambs, for treatment since being diagnosed in March, on Easter Sunday.
Daisy needed to have the adrenal gland removed along with the tumour, but her parents are hoping the surgical treatment means she will not need to have chemotherapy.
She spent two weeks in hospital after the operation, and then returned home for a day before going back to be cared for by medics for another ten days.
“Because all her organs were crushed, nothing was working properly,” Lucy, a mother-of-one, said.
Lucy and Adam are hoping that Daisy’s feeding tube will not be permanent.
“She’s started to eat a bit more, nothing is going to stop her,” Lucy said.
“Hopefully she won’t have to have the tube for too long.
“She lost an adrenal gland, but you have two, and you can live without one.
“It is really lucky
“It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened.
“She just amazes me.”
Generous fundraisers donated more than £10,000 so Daisy could have a new walking frame and physiotherapy, and so she can go on a surprise holiday with her family.
To donate, visit – www.justgiving.com/fundraising/doingit4daisy
