Ruby Leach, from Newport, has been told she is cancer-free, three years after being diagnosed with stage three lymphoma at the age of 12. What began as a lump on her neck, initially thought to be an infection picked up on a family holiday to Turkey, turned out to be cancer.
A Rapid Diagnosis and Start of Treatment
Ruby first noticed the lump on May 18, 2023, and was diagnosed on June 20. After a GP prescribed antibiotics, a rash spread across her body, leading to tests at Noah's Ark Children's Hospital at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Ruby recalls being taken to a side room where a consultant told her and her parents the news. She said: "They told me it was more than just an infection. It was the first time I'd seen my dad cry like that. I had my first panic attack, my hands were shaking, and I couldn't breathe properly."
She started chemotherapy on June 24 and cut her long waist-length hair on July 9 when it began to fall out. After four rounds of chemotherapy, her consultant told her in August that the cancer had gone, but she completed two more cycles in September.
Returning to School and Life After Treatment
Ruby returned to The John Frost School in Newport in mid-October on a reduced timetable, but now says it was too soon. She faced unkind comments from a group of boys about her appearance while wearing a wig, though she no longer thinks about them.
She says the experience has changed her: "I have a lot more perspective I think. My family and friends and playing netball are important to me." Ruby plays wing attack and centre for Newport West netball team, takes her year 11 GCSEs next summer, and hopes to work with children.
Monitoring and Family Support
After being told she was cancer-free at the end of August 2023, Ruby was monitored every three months for a year, then every four months for two years. Her last hospital scans were in September this year, and she will now see her consultant every six months for a check-up.
Her mother Cara said: "The risk of relapse is now the same as for the rest of the population. You don't get told you're in remission but she was told she was cancer-free."
Her parents, Anthony and Cara, said it had been a hard time for the whole family, including Ruby's older siblings Rhys, now 23, and Elin Rose, now 20. Anthony has since changed jobs and is now a trauma-informed education consultant working with Heard Learning.
Later this month, Welsh charity Morgan's Army and Heard Learning are hosting the Beyond Treatment, Together workshop to help families affected by childhood cancer. The event is being held on Sunday, November 29, at The Towers Hotel, Swansea, from 2pm to 5pm.
