Darcie beats cancer and starts big school

A YOUNG girl who is in recovery from a rare form of cancer started her first day of school on Monday, with her mother saying she was “happy, proud and emotional” to see her daughter overcome so many hurdles.

Darcie Gavin, from Tallaght Village, started her first day of school in Scoil Maelruain JNS this week, and she’s now settling into her new environment after spending so much time in hospital over the past few years.

Darcie’s mam, Lizzie Gavin, said her four-and-a-half-year-old daughter is adjusting to attending school but is confident she’ll quickly find her feet.

“There were no tears when we went in on the first day,” Lizzie told The Echo. “But for the last two days she did say she didn’t want to go, because she said it was boring.

“I think she’s just nervous and very shy, but once she finds her feet, I know she’ll be fantastic.”

Seeing Darcie reach such a pivotal milestone was particularly emotional for her proud parents, Lizzie and John Gavin, after a difficult few years for their daughter.

In July 2019, at two-years-and-five-months-old, Darcie was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer called hepatoblastoma, after her parents grew concerned about some symptoms she was displaying.

“For two weeks, on and off, she was unwell,” explained Lizzie. “One day she had a bit of a temperature, it was only about 30, but she was just off form.

“We gave her some Calpol, and put it down to teething, then a couple of days later she vomited once.

“Then a week later she had a bit of a temperature again, but as quickly as these things came up, they were disappearing again.

“Then my husband said Darcie’s stomach looked a bit swollen, and for the next 24 hours she kept vomiting and couldn’t eat or drink.”

Darcie during her time in hospital two years ago receiving treatment

The couple brought Darcie to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Tallaght University Hospital on July 11, 2019, where doctors told them they had a found a mass and they were sending Darcie to CHI Crumlin to investigate it.

“The doctor in Tallaght Hospital told us that they had found a mass, but they weren’t sure if it was malignant or benign, so there was an ambulance waiting for us to bring us to Crumlin,” Lizzie said.

“When we got down to Crumlin, there was a team waiting for us. Darcie was diagnosed within hours, and the team in Tallaght had arranged everything with Crumlin.”

Little Darcie was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer that affects two to three people in a million, and as the cancer had reached stage three, she had to undergo intensive chemotherapy.

“She had a very intensive form of chemotherapy called cisplatin,” said Lizzie. “Most people only get chemo once a month, but she got it once every two weeks at a high dose. It was a short treatment, but it was really intensive.”

Due to the presence of the tumour beside her liver, Darcie would also require either a liver transplant or resection.

Darcie and her family travelled to King’s College Hospital in London in late 2019 in order for the tumour, which was the size of a grapefruit, to be removed, and her liver was saved as a result of the operation.

“When Darcie was in the ward [after the operation] myself and my husband went to get tea and coffee,” remembered Lizzie.

“We left her in the bed, she had IV lines and tubes in her. We left and then came back because the doctors were doing their rounds.

“When we went back up to the ward, Darcie was on a balance bike with a sick bowl on her head saying, ‘yeehaw’.

“I was just like, ‘oh my god, get her, mind her’, but then I just thought, ‘that’s Darcie, that’s how she’s handled every minute of her treatment’.”

The Gavins expected to spend a month in the UK while Darcie recovered from her operation, but they were back home in Tallaght within a week as the little girl’s recovery was quicker than expected.

The harsh chemotherapy that Darcie underwent caused permanent damage to her hearing – she now wears two sparkly pink hearing aids – but her parents said that tests revealed there is no more cancer in their daughter’s body.

However, she will have to undergo lifelong surveillance and monitoring in hospital, as doctors discovered she is now predisposed to developing other rapid forms of cancer.

“At the moment, the cancer is gone,” said Lizzie. “But her condition predisposes her to developing other forms of cancer, that will develop quickly and rapidly, so she’s screened very regularly.”

Lizzie and John will take on an abseiling challenge in Croke Park on September 25 to raise funds for Children’s Health Ireland, to thank them for all they’ve done to help Darcie.

Donations are currently being accepted at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lizzie-john-gavin, and the Gavins are delighted to see that their daughter is thriving again.

“You’re just looking at her in the flesh and going, ‘I can’t believe we’re here’,” said Lizzie.

“We’re just trying to enjoy right now. We’re trying not to look ahead and think about the future too much, and just enjoy every moment with Darcie.”