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Abdullah rings the bell “so loud the kids at school will hear”

Wednesday 15 January 2020 in Patient stories

Signatures from family and friends adorned the back of seven-year-old Abdullah’s black t-shirt on which gold writing stated, ‘I had cancer, cancer never had me’. On the front of his shirt were the words ‘Straight outa Chemo’, and as he rang the bell on Wednesday 8 January, surrounded by jubilant family members, everyone celebrated the end of two difficult years of treatment.

Abdullah’s diagnosis was a surprise. Being tired after playing in the pool had not seemed unusual. Then his parents, Reema and Yasir Soliman, noticed a rash over his chest, similar to a heat rash, and a little minor bruising that might occur when playing with siblings. Later they noticed more bruising and that he had a supressed appetite.

Not only was he not eating, and lying lethargically on the couch, but new bruises were appearing almost daily despite him not being active.

Worried, they took Abdullah to a GP, who was unconcerned, but ordered a blood test. The results were unusual and after a second visit to the GP they were advised to take him to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

“It was the Christmas long weekend,” remembers Reema. “And Abdullah was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).”

He was initially given steroid treatment, but it didn’t go as well as expected, and on the eighth day it was confirmed he had the rarer T-cell leukaemia, instead of the more common B-cell one. This placed him in a high-risk category, and he received treatment that was more intensive.

Two years after his initial diagnosis Abdullah was continuing chemotherapy treatment when a biopsy on 16 December 2019 revealed he was all-clear. His parents, two brothers and two sisters welcomed this news and Abdullah had been looking forward to it.

“He had been speaking about ringing the bell for such a long time,” said Reema.

“He told his principal he wanted to ring the bell so loud the kids at school will hear.”

Abdullah was in Year 1 in 2019 but missed the beginning of the school year due to his treatment. When other children were forming friendships and becoming used to school routines he was in hospital. This year he will be very happy to be there on the first day of school with all the other children.

Find out more about acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

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