Pollymay Berry was 10 when she was flown from Shepparton to a Melbourne hospital in an air ambulance.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
In an ideal world, she’d have been home for her 11th birthday, celebrating with family and friends.
Instead, she was undergoing chemotherapy.
She’s still in Melbourne, still in hospital and still facing a long road there yet.
Almost five months ago, Pollymay and her family’s lives were turned upside down when she was transferred from Goulburn Valley Health to the Royal Children’s Hospital after falling ill.
With quickly worsening symptoms, including growing glands and increasing pain, initially thought to be something like glandular fever, blood tests rang more sinister alarm bells.
“My phone went nuts with calls ... saying Pollymay needed to get to the emergency department immediately and that they were expecting us,” mum Janie Mudford said.
“I raced to get her there straight away. She was in tears the whole drive. At this stage I had no idea what was going on but I knew it was something.”
After further blood tests revealed the presence of ‘blast cells’, Janie first heard the word leukaemia volleyed around.
“It was here where I think I fell apart, but also went into autopilot,” Janie said.
“There was no question my baby wasn't well.”
That was Friday, April 10.
On Monday, April 13, leukaemia was confirmed.
On Tuesday, April 14, Pollymay was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
“After the first round of chemo, things were looking good, but following the second round it was evident that the chemo wasn't working as hoped, which was utterly devastating,” Janie said.
“The team told us we need to go ahead and do a bone marrow transplant.”
Thankfully, a donor match has since been found and Pollymay will begin pre-transplant conditioning chemotherapy on Monday, August 31, ahead of her transplant on September 9.
But, Pollymay faces at least six more months post-transplant in recovery in Melbourne, depending on how the procedure goes.
The Gowrie Street Primary School Year 5 student has two older brothers, who will turn 13 and 15 in September.
Janie, who is no longer partnered with their father, and Pollymay have been separated from the boys for almost five months while they remain in Shepparton with their dad, visiting their mum and sister in Melbourne every second weekend.
“The boys are doing as well as can be expected, but they both struggle massively with what’s happening to their little sister and with being separated from us both,” Janie said.
“Before all of this, Pollymay was just a happy, funny, kind-hearted young girl who loved being with her friends, being outdoors and keeping everyone on their toes.”
Janie longs to see that version of her daughter again as she watches her youngest child face and endure traumatic experiences.
“She should be worrying about school, friends, playing outside and annoying her brothers, not chemotherapy, hospital rooms and bone marrow transplants,” she said.
When Pollymay was transferred to Melbourne, Janie had to stop running her independent disability support business, Complete Spectrum Support Services, in Shepparton, to be by her daughter’s side.
Without work, there is also no income.
The family lost their Shepparton rental home as a result.
“Everything happened so quickly that we didn’t even get the chance to properly say goodbye to our home,” Janie said.
While she’s unable to work, the bills keep piling up, and Janie is desperately trying to stay on top of them, while retaining the family’s car, pay for accommodation, food and travel in Melbourne, as well as finding money to afford medication and unexpected medical expenses that arise with Pollymay’s treatment.
“I don’t want to be worrying about money. I want to be worrying about my daughter,” Janie said.
“I want to be sitting beside her when she’s scared, holding her hand through the hard days.
“I want to be able to tell her that everything is going to be okay, even when I’m scared myself.”
Janie is in Melbourne with Pollymay alone, receiving day-to-day support from a hospital social worker, who also helps her navigate “all things you need when you become a cancer mum”.
A GoFundMe page calling for donations aims to take some of Janie’s financial pressure away to allow her to focus on being with Pollymay.
“I’m beyond terrified of this, but I will not leave by baby girl until I can take her home,” Janie said.
“I’ve lost my business, my income, my house and I miss my boys terribly, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
Janie’s sister, Kate Mudford, said their family had been doing everything they could to support Janie and Pollymay emotionally and financially, but it was hard to maintain with the current increased cost of living affecting everyone.
“We are hoping there may be some people in the community who can spare a few dollars to help out with the ongoing costs associated with moving your life to Melbourne while caring for a sick child," Kate said.
Janie never expected to be asking for this kind of help from her community, but has been left with no other choice.
She appealed to anyone who couldn’t afford to help financially to consider sharing Pollymay’s story.
“Please help us bring Pollymay home,” Janie said.
To donate to the GoFundMe fundraiser, visit: tinyurl.com/55bjfwyd