Up until then she had suffered a few minor infections, the last one settling in her gums. By this time her mother Sheena realised something was seriously wrong.
‘I was brushing her teeth when I noticed her gums were very swollen,’ Sheena said.
‘I took her in to Princess Margaret Hospital where after blood tests doctors told me her bone marrow had 90 per cent cancer cells.
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READ NOW‘It was heart-breaking news. But you know something, when you get told something like that you just want to fight and fight. We wanted our little girl to survive.’
Lania underwent chemotherapy and other treatment for the next two years and three months, and by age four she was back in good health.
But sometimes cancer seems to stalk families.
A couple of years later, Lania’s grandmother, Daphne Collins, was hospitalised with deep vein thrombosis while holidaying in Canada.
‘When I returned home, a haematologist picked up some abnormalities in my blood cells,’ Daphne said.
‘I was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare blood disorder in my bone marrow.
‘The odds of getting the disease are about 1 in 100,000,’ she said.
Daphne is currently being treated for the disease and her daughter Sheri Dwyer, a regular member of a WA Cancer Council Relay for Life team, is determined the family will do what it can to fight cancer.
‘We have formed our own 14-strong family and friends team, which we have named The Walking Daffodils to take part in the Joondalup Wanneroo Relay for Life event over the October 18-19 weekend,’ Sheri said.
However, the Relay for Life organising committee is seeking more teams to take part at the Joondalup Wanneroo Relay for Life at Arena Joondalup.
To register, call 0417 922 726 or email relayteamsjoondalupwanneroo@gmail.com for more information.