It was the last weekend of the school holidays in January 2012 when Susan McCubben noticed small bruises appearing on her eight-year-old daughter’s arms and legs.
Zoe was an active girl, always upside down, turning cartwheels or doing somersaults on the trampoline and small bruises were quite common, but every minor knock or bump resulted in a large bruise which slowly worsened over the next few days.
Worried, Susan made an appointment with her GP, who immediately sent Zoe for a blood test. The results came back the same day — Zoe had a low platelet count and was at serious risk of bleeding.
She was rushed to Sydney Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department where she was diagnosed with severe Aplastic Anaemia. Her bone marrow was not producing enough platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells for her body to function properly.
Zoe needed a bone marrow transplant from her mum, dad Ian or brother Oscar, 11. If no one in her family was a match, she would have to undergo lengthy immuno-suppressive therapy.
Initial tests showed her dad and brother were not full matches, so Zoe started immuno-suppressive treatment including chemotherapy, steroids and other medicine. As a result, Zoe had no immune system and was at high risk of infection.
After a lengthy hospital stay, Zoe was allowed to return home, but after just one night she was rushed back to the Emergency room with a temperature. She spent the next two weeks in hospital.
Over the next few weeks, Zoe was hospitalised repeatedly, spending only a few nights at home, her record being 11 nights in her own bed in a row.
Three months after her immune-suppressive treatment began, Zoe got some wonderful news — the final results for her brother Oscar’s bone marrow blood test were in and he was a match!
Oscar donated his bone marrow to help save his sister and after another 19 days in hospital, doctors let the little girl return home.
Zoe’s life is now getting back to normal. Although she still has to have regular check-ups, she is back at school and playing her favourite sports and her mum is thrilled.
“No one could have prepared us for how our life was going to change the night we first brought Zoe into the hospital,” she said.
“However, once we knew what was in store for us the support we received through the hospital was fantastic.
“We cannot thank enough the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital for everything they’ve done for Zoe and our family, their dedication to the children and their health is unbelievable.”
Do you want to help transform the lives of sick and injured children like Zoe? Tune into the 4th annual Gold Telethon, brought to you by the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation and Channel 9. It will be broadcast on Channel Nine, WIN and NBN all day on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday, Monday, June 10, 2013.
The Gold Telethon is the major annual fundraising campaign for the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, which helps 39,000 seriously ill and injured children every year.
In 2012, it raised $2.61 million and this year is aims to raise even more — $3.6 million.
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