Theo's Leukaemia journey

Theo’s journey

Hello everyone, it’s Margaret Daly and Sinead Rowe here, friends of Martin and Caroline Smyth who live in Armagh. As some of you may or may not know, their world was turned upside down in July 2022. Their 11-year-old son, Theo, had been feeling unwell for several weeks. Martin and Caroline first noticed a change in Theo at the end of May when his mood and behaviour changed however, given his age, it was put down to puberty. Theo then went on a school trip which included water sports. He complained of a sore chest on his return and it was thought he had pulled a muscle. Theo then complained of tiredness; not the usual tiredness we all experience from time to time but exhaustion which impacted on his ability to do normal daily activities; this was put down to a viral infection. Fast forward to mid-July, Theo was sleeping a lot and he was very pale. He was spiking temperatures daily. The GP took bloods, and Theo was admitted to Craigavon Area Hospital the following day. Two days later, Theo was transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where he underwent various tests, scans, and a bone marrow biopsy. On the 22nd of July 2022, Theo was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. To make an already difficult situation even harder, Martin’s mother suddenly and unexpectantly died on the 19th of July 2022 and was buried on the 22nd of July 2022, the day Theo received his diagnosis.

Currently, Theo remains in the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Unit in The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. He is being cared for by an amazing team of doctors, nurses, care assistants and therapists. He has just finished his first course of Chemotherapy and has needed several blood transfusions and platelets during this time. Despite being petrified, he has shown so much bravery and maturity in facing something no child should have to.

Theo has a long road ahead of him which will involve lengthy stays in hospital, ongoing tests and procedures, and further rounds of chemotherapy. Needless to say, this diagnosis has had a devastating impact on the family unit. Visiting is restricted to parents only to protect Theo from infection, meaning his sister Jasmyn has not seen her brother face to face since the 18th of July 2022. His older brothers Adam and Jonathan are keeping Theo’s spirits up over video call by discussing football and motorbikes. Caroline has remained at Theo’s side day and night, and Martin travels from their home in Armagh to Belfast to visit them daily, therefore they both have had to take leave from their jobs which in itself creates financial worry on top of everything else. This page has been set up to support the Smyths financially to try to remove some of the worry and burden from them as they support their child with the biggest fight he has ever had to face.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and any support, no matter how small, is very much appreciated.

Margaret and Sinead

#theosjourney #theosleukaemiajourney