General News
18 April, 2025
Dig deep for children like Gia
WHEN Hannah Carswell took her 10-week old baby to the emergency department at Warrnambool Hospital with a high temperature early January last year, little did she know it would be months before they returned home.
Born in October 2023, Gia weighed a healthy 3.5 kilos.
But it wasn’t long before parents Hannah and Dominic noticed something wasn’t quite right.
“Gia was constantly crying, she was having trouble feeding and was quite unsettled,” Hannah said.
“But at the time we thought it really wasn’t too much out of the normal for a newborn – until we saw a small blue lump start to develop when she was about six weeks old.
“It was like a bruise just under her belly button. Initially I thought I must have caught a suit zip on her skin or something but it began to grow quite rapidly.”
By Gia’s eight week check-up that lump had grown to the size of a small pea. Not long after she developed mild congestion – a runny nose and her skin had turned pale.
“Over Christmas we also noticed a couple of lumps on her fontanel and by New Year’s Day she began to go downhill; she was lethargic, no wet nappies, wasn’t feeding and she had a high fever by January 3.”
Within hours of arriving at Warrnambool’s emergency department, bruising had also appeared on Gia’s ribs.
Blood tests were taken and the results totally turned the Carswell family’s life upside down – and rocked them to the core.
“Normally, a person’s white cell count is around 4-10, Gia’s was at 553.
“She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We were absolutely shell-shocked.”
Within an hour of diagnosis, Gia and Hannah were in a helicopter and on their way to The Royal Children’s Hospital for urgent treatment.
“It all happened so fast,” Hannah recalled.
“We were still in shock from the diagnosis and then were told she needed to go to the Children’s straight away for treatment.
“We were flown to RCH where Gia was admitted to the intensive care unit. They also found she had a staph infection that needed to be treated.”
Gia was in ICU for four days and was an in-patient at the hospital for almost 10 months.
“Our world really came crashing down that day,” Hannah said.
“Dominic had to drive down to Melbourne and leave our other two daughters, Lainie (14) and Karalee (4) at home with my parents.
“We were so lucky to have mum and dad to support us all.
“It takes a village to raise a child. And when that child is gravely ill, that village expands tenfold.”
While at the Royal Children’s, Gia underwent six gruelling rounds of high-intensity chemotherapy.
“Our days were filled with treatments and appointments. It is absolutely heart wrenching to see your baby in so much pain.
“She was given high doses of strong pain relief medication after each dose of chemo, which was back to back. She would only really have one or two good days before she had another dose of chemo.
“We asked for a long-term prognosis but they (doctors) don’t like to give one, they just say there is no cure but we do have a treatment plan and that was all we needed to hear.
“One of the side effects of such high doses of chemotherapy is that it breaks down the lining of the mouth, throat and stomach so she couldn’t eat.
“Gia had an IV line 24/7 and was on fentanyll, ketamine and morphine just to help keep her comfortable.”
The Kookaburra Ward at the Children’s became ‘home’ for them.
Because of Gia’s extremely low immune system, visits were limited to family members only and they spent weeks on end indoors.
“It was certainly a very stressful and emotional time for us all,” Hannah said.
“We left the Warrnambool hospital on January 3 and didn’t come home until September 6.
“The care team at the Children’s were amazing and we can’t speak highly enough of them.
“While Gia is now in remission we do still need to go back to the Children’s each month for check-ups. With AML there is a 50 per cent chance of relapse in the first 12 months after the last round of chemo but we have everything crossed.
“A relapse would mean the need for a bone marrow transplant. Many people donate blood but don’t realise how easy it is to get on the bone marrow registry – it’s just a simple cheek swab that can be done at home and everyone can sign up on-line.
“For now we’re enjoying every day and are so very grateful for those who rallied around us and continue to do so.”
Hannah and Dominic are extremely grateful to Hannah’s parents who moved in to their home to look after their girls while they were away.
“Mum and dad were also exhausted but we don’t know what we would have done without them.
“We both work for the council and they were also amazing; we have a program at work where staff can gift some of their leave to others and they were so generous.
“The team at the Crystal-Lee Foundation are absolute angels. They not only supported mum, dad, Lainie and Karalee they were also there for us every step of the way.
“We can’t thank them enough. They joined our village. Even the small gestures, like a voucher for the coffee shop at the hospital, fuel vouchers, meals that were left at home; it was all so very much appreciated.”
The Crystal-Lee Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation based in Warrnambool.
It helps families like the Carswell’s following a cancer diagnosis.
The foundation relies on the generosity of the community and other donors to continue its wonderful work.
