Toddler, 2, diagnosed with rare cancer after 'doctors thought he had constipation'

Tommy Paul Quinn has a 50 per cent survival rate

A toddler who doctors thought had constipation has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Young Tommy Paul Quinn started to feel unwell after coming back from a family holiday in January.

Mum Nicole, 37, and dad David, 41, noticed his bouts of sickness were brought on after eating certain foods. They initially thought he had a food allergy, with one medic later suspected the tot had constipation.

But everything soon 'spiralled' and the two-year-old was eventually diagnosed with a Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma. The aggressive and rare childhood cancer has a 50 per cent survival rate.

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Mum Nicole said: "He is a typical boisterous boy who loves playing with cars. You see these things happening in the news but you never expect it to happen to your son."

Tommy's parents started to become concerned when the boy was getting sick while eating some foods and struggling to sleep. At a family party, they noticed Tommy was not interested in playing, was growing lethargic, had not drunk anything and did not need to go to the toilet.

Nicole, from Bishopbriggs, Scotland, called NHS 24 and was told to go to Glasgow Children's Hospital. But while they were waiting to be seen, Tommy had a fruit shoot and produced a wet nappy.

They were sent home after an assessment, GlasgowLive reports. But just hours later, the parents took him back to hospital as they felt something was not right.

Nicole said: "We had given him something to drink when we got home and we woke to find he had been sick everywhere. I just had a feeling that we needed to take him back because something wasn't right.

"He wasn't his usual self but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it was what it would turn out to be." Tommy was seen by a doctor who initially said it could be constipation and asked to examine his stomach.

The mum said: "The registrar came in and felt his tummy and her face just dropped. Everything started spiralling from there."

Tommy had bloods taken, an IV line installed and a consultant organised an ultrasound scan for the morning for the youngster. Nicole added: "She advised us that the mass is unlikely to be constipation and given his age and other symptoms, it is likely to be something nasty.

"Tommy had his scan the next day. The radiologist left the room and returned a while later advising the consultant would see us in the ward. We knew then something serious was going on."

Following weeks of testing, Nicole was given the 'sickening' news that Tommy had Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma. Doctors found a tumour on his adrenal gland, with secondary manifestations in his lymph nodes, thorax and spinal cord.

Tommy underwent tests on his heart, hearing and kidneys before having a central line inserted to start a gruelling induction chemotherapy regime consisting of seven chemotherapy drugs. He underwent numerous bone marrow procedures, blood transfusions, CT and MRI scans, nuclear MIBG scans, G-CSF injections, stem cell harvest, tumour resection and his first intensive chemotherapy and stem cell transplant.

Tommy also lost his hearing due to the chemotherapy which means he now needs hearing aids. Nicole said: "He is blissfully unaware he is so sick. He'll be attached to four or five chemo lines and doing forward rolls in the ward.

"Me and David have to chase him with the machines when he is on his scuttle bug to make sure he doesn't go too far away. It took him four or five chemo rounds to come back to himself.

"But he is a whirlwind now. He had keyhole surgery for his tumour and got home two days later. I looked away from him and he was outside on his trampoline bouncing away.

"He has amazed us all with his resilience and strength, keeping his cheeky smile and mischievous nature and making us so proud of how he is coping daily and taking it all in his stride." The toddler now has to continue with treatement for 18 months before his family will know if the cancer is in remission.

But Nicole said there is still a very high risk that Tommy could relapse and his cancer could come back which is 'frighteningly common' with High Risk Neuroblastoma. If it returns, Tommy’s chances of survival would drop drastically to five to 10 per cent.

The family has launched a fundraiser to cover the costs of future treatment which could see them forced to travel as far as the United States, with costs as high as £250,000 for treatment.

The GoFundMe reads: "Unfortunately we will not know if Tommy’s cancer has gone into remission until his end-of-treatment scans. If he does not manage remission, the treatment options available on the NHS are reduced and often require families to travel to other parts of the UK which they would need to self-fund.

"There are also a number of clinical trials available outwith the UK that Tommy could access should his cancer not be cured at the end of treatment which we would need to self-fund. The money that we raise will go towards getting Tommy any treatment he needs, improving his quality of life and supporting him and his family during this time.

"We want to give Tommy the best chance at beating this awful cancer. Any money not used to treat and support Tommy during this time, will be gifted to Neuroblastoma UK and other charities that have assisted us during this dreadful time. Every penny counts."

See the fundraiser here.