The Whitehead Family, Kerikeri

Six months before Hannah was diagnosed she began suffering from viruses and high temperatures, it seemed every bug that was going around Hannah seemed to pick up. A visit to their local GP just confirmed this. Unbeknown to them she had little immunity. However over the coming months Hannah did not improve and a trip back to their GP was followed by blood tests and a referral to Whangarei Hospital.

While in Whangarei doctors delivered Mike and wife Amanda the news no parent ever wants to hear — the initial blood tests indicated Hannah may have leukaemia but they weren’t sure, Hannah would need to go to Starship immediately for more tests.

Upon arriving at Starship in early September 2008, Hannah received a bone marrow biopsy which confirmed she had Acute Myloid Leukaemia (AML). Doctors sat with Mike and Amanda and talked through what urgently needed to happen to give Hannah the best chance of beating the disease.

Meanwhile Mike and Amanda were left with the decision of uplifting their life in Kerikeri so they could all remain by Hannah’s side throughout her treatment, which was to take at least 6 months. The family gave up their rental property and moved into Ronald McDonald House Auckland, relying on friends and family to move all their belongings into storage. Mike, who owns his own business along with two very understanding partners, was fortunate to be able to draw down a small wage to keep the family going just until he could return to work again.

With no time to process what was happening to their daughter, Hannah immediately began her first course of chemotherapy — this was to be the first of three. This was given to Hannah over a 10 day period, followed by a 30 day rest period where she remained in isolation so her body could recover. Hannah was very sick, the only thing bringing a smile to her face was the fact that older sister Katey, age 7, (as well as Mum and Dad) was allowed to visit and play with her while in isolation. “It was awful to see,” said Mike. “At one stage we counted 5 different lines in her. She had high temperatures but she got through it all.”

Thankfully Hannah’s body handled the second course of chemotherapy better than the first. The third round was by far the hardest on everyone however, especially Hannah, as her body was subjected to the same amount of the chemo drug as the first course but this time over a 5 day period instead of 10.

“Hannah got really sick and we thought we were going to lose her on numerous nights. The days after she received the chemo were by far the worst.”

While all this was happening, Katey started at the onsite Ronald McDonald House school. “The school and the teachers are amazing and the ability for Katey to be able to keep up with her class work from back home was so important. From a parent’s perspective, although our reason for being here is to care for our sick child, we have a responsibility to care for our healthy child as well.”

Between each round of chemotherapy Hannah was allowed down to the House for short visits as long as she kept away from other children so as to not pick up any bugs. After the third round Hannah was allowed out of hospital for a month to stay with the rest of her family in the House. This was also just in time for Christmas. “We had a lovely time together and a beautiful Christmas in the House,” said Mike. “We even got to experience the Sky Tower erupting with fireworks on NYE — all from our bedroom window!”

On 25th January 2009 Hannah underwent her bone marrow transplant. Thankfully for Hannah, her sister Katey was a perfect donor match meaning there was far less complications and a far less chance of rejection for Hannah.

In order to get her body ready for the procedure, Hannah underwent a fourth round of chemotherapy over a 10 day period. On the tenth day Katey was admitted and doctors extracted bone marrow from her body which was then fed straight into Hannah’s blood system. Hannah slept through the whole process and awoke feeling fresh. Katey on the other hand had taken a big blow to her little body so doctors kept her in hospital overnight just to ensure she was ok. She was discharged back to the House the following day and was back to her old self again in just a few days.

Hannah remained in isolation for a further 26 days with Mum and Dad taking turns to stay with her in hospital while the other stayed in the House with Katey. “The House is a godsend and so are all the volunteers that cooked the meals. The last thing we wanted after sleepless nights in the hospital was to have to cook for the family.”

In the six months the Whiteheads have been at Ronald McDonald House they were allowed three short visits home. The family finally returned home to Kerikeri on 17th March, to a new home and a new lease on life for Hannah. Mike is now back at work but he and Amanda will still need to ensure Hannah has her weekly alternate visits to Whangarei Hospital and Starship to check that her body is recovering well. Hospital visits will stretch out to three, six and eventually yearly visits just to ensure the leukaemia hasn’t returned.

Thinking back over their last six months, Mike said “As soon as you walk into the House you know you’re amongst friends. This place has kept our family unit, and our sanity, together — they gave us a room that was our own and a safe place for our kids to play. There is no way we could’ve got through this without Ronald McDonald House.”

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