A mum who says she was dismissed by doctors eight times is urging parents to keep pushing for medical care, after her baby’s acid reflux was actually cancer.
Paisley, then five months, began suffering with flu-like symptoms back in September 2019.
Mum Jacquelyn Waggoner, 19, claims she was dismissed as an ‘overprotective first-time parent’ each time she went to the emergency department over the course of two months.
On 19 November 2019 an X-ray revealed excess fluid in Paisley’s right lung, leading to a misdiagnosis of pneumonia.
But when the baby was taken to a hospital in Washington for a CT scan it was discovered that Paisley had neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that mostly affects babies and young children.
Paisley, now seven months old, is now on her second round of chemotherapy.
Jacquelyn believes that if she hadn’t have been persistent, her daughter would have died.
She’s sharing her story to urge parents to ‘trust their instincts’.
‘I refused to leave the emergency room until she was properly examined and thankfully I did as my daughter was hours away from her last breath,’ said Jacquelyn.
‘I was literally screaming for someone to examine her as we had been sent away seven times without doctors even touching her.
‘I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if she wasn’t blue-lighted to Spokane Sacred Heart hospital in Washington.
‘I am heartbroken – if the cancer was caught sooner, they could have operated on her but now it is too late as the tumour is taking over her body.
‘I knew something was wrong with my baby but I never in a million years thought it would be cancer.
‘I want other mums to be persistent and adamant if their baby isn’t well because you never know if it is life or death.
‘I felt angry and frustrated with the hospital, as they didn’t take me seriously.’
Jacquelyn was previously a babysitter and had previously looked after babies with the flu – which is how she spotted ‘something more sinister’ when Paisley became sick at just four-weeks-old.
She claims medics treated her as being ‘over-cautious’ and brushed her symptoms off as the flu or acid reflux.
The family is now raising money through a GoFundMe to cover the costs of Paisley’s treatment.
Jacquelyn says: ‘She is so positive and happy even when the chemotherapy drugs knock it out of her but she bounces back.
‘She is already trying to walk.
‘I try to keep my head above the water for my daughter – she brings me so much joy.
‘Both myself and her dad, Chance Afdhal, 25, are heartbroken but we want to spend as much time with her as we can.
‘We hope other parents trust their gut feeling when it comes to their children.’
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