This Tuesday, September 17, is World Bone Marrow Donor Day. The opportunity to talk about leukemia, a disease that affects thousands of French people every year. Lilou, a young woman from Reunion Island, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3 and a half. Several treatments and a few years later, Lilou is now completely cured.
According to the Foundation for Medical Research (FRM), between 9,000 and 10,000 people in France are affected by leukemia, which includes several types of blood cancer.
In Reunion Island, in 2014, Lilou, a young Reunionese girl aged 3 and a half, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Terrible news for her mother Murielle at the time: “She started to have joint pain, after a blood test, I had to take Lilou to the pediatric emergency room. Everything happened so quickly, my daughter was then taken in for a new blood test. 3.5 hours of waiting where I was sitting on a chair and then the terrifying announcement: “We are sorry madam, but Lilou has leukemia”. I felt like I was no longer touching the ground, it was a descent into hell.”
Achieved a acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Lilou had to follow heavy treatment for several years: “Chemotherapy, corticosteroids and other medications to prevent side effects, hair loss of course, and with all that no more school, no more contact with the children, no more going out to the shops, no more restaurants and so on. From that moment on, we locked ourselves in “a bubble” for a very long time. The bulk of the treatment lasted about 9 months, but it had to be interrupted when Lilou had aplasia (a big drop in white blood cells), she no longer had any immune defense and the chemotherapy had to be suspended. We just had to wait until it got better again, to start again.”
In April/May 2015, the young woman from Reunion Island was in remission and was able to return to school, but still with chemotherapy for two years. : “In 2017, my daughter was able to stop all treatment and resume “a normal life” if I may say so. I would rather say relearn how to live almost normally, as much for her as for me. I had to relearn how to let my child live almost like all the other children, go back to school etc. But it was very difficult. I knew that the disease could come back, that there could be a relapse, but the “positive attitude”, the faith, made us move forward towards victory against the disease. Of course, it was very very hard, ups, downs, but each step was a victory for us and we hung on to each of these steps.”
In 2019, Lilou was declared cured, she is still being followed up until she is 18. Today, aged 14, she is a teenager who lives life to the fullest: “We would like to say to parents, children, adults, because it can affect anyone. I would not lie and say that it is easy, that we do not crack. We are human and as a mother and parent, seeing your child fight against the disease is a terrifying thing. But everything will be fine, always keep the positive in mind and believe in the strength of your children and in your strength, have confidence. Lilou was surrounded by a wonderful and so human medical team… I will never thank them enough for saving her”, concludes the girl’s mother.
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