A little four-year-old girl has already lived two lives.
“A life before and a life after,” according to her mother who had to watch her fight to be alive every day for nine months, with nothing but hope to hold onto.
When Maxi Catania spiked a high temperature in May last year when she was three, her mother Jana put it down to an ordinary childhood bug.
Then came unexplained bruises, spreading quickly across her little legs.
“I put it down to, you know, a three-year-old — she was a very active three-year-old, so climbing, bumping herself. And then within 48 hours, her whole legs were covered, as well as this little bleeding under the skin on her neck, so we went straight to PCH emergency,” Ms Catania, said.
She never imagined her youngest child was fighting for her life.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think it was leukemia, it didn’t even cross my mind,” she said. “When they said the words leukemia, I was physically ill. It was awful.”
Maxi’s official diagnosis was Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, an aggressive and fast-moving subtype of acute myeloid leukemia.
“It’s devastating. Pretty devastating,” Ms Catania said through tears.
What followed was an arduous nine-month ordeal where the oncology ward became a second home for the Catania family.
“One of her chemotherapies is arsenic. It would make her temperature regulation all over the place, so she’d get intense headaches, vomiting . . . all the great things that come with chemotherapy,” Ms Catania said sarcastically.
“We were driving into the clinic on some days and we’d have to pull over because she was so unwell.”
Reflecting on the sheer intensity of what paediatric cancer patients endure, Ms Catania said the reality of treatment is agonising for parents to witness.
“I read somewhere once that, you know, to cure some of these cancers, you bring a child as close to death as you can, and then you’ve got to bring them back again,” she said, breaking down. “No child should have to do that.”
Maxi’s journey highlights why world-class medical research is so vital, and why West Australians rally behind Telethon each year.
On Tuesday, the Cook Labor Government and Channel 7 Telethon Trust announced more than $4 million in joint funding across seven child health research projects through the WA Child Research Fund.
Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson said, thanks to Telethon, the fund has delivered about $50m across 160 projects since 2012 to protect WA children.
“One researcher that we funded today, Dr Sebastien Malinge, is doing some immunotherapy research — helping kids who’ve got advanced myeloid leukemia — and these are children who have incredibly tough lives,” Minister Dawson said.
“For some of the treatments that exist already, it takes a lot out of them. So this immunotherapy research really will be world leading, and will not only make a difference to our children in Western Australia, but many, many more around the world.”
Dr Malinge, based at the University of Western Australia and working alongside PCH clinicians, explained why new, targeted treatments are desperately needed.
“The chemotherapy we are using, they are not recognising the cancer cell over the healthy cell,” Dr Malinge said. “So what we are trying to do here is to find specific targets on the myeloid leukemia cells to specifically target them with less toxicity.
“Potentially any kid could go to immunotherapies because it’s a less toxic treatment, and that’s what we are looking for, more effective and less toxic treatment.”
For Ms Catania, knowing researchers are searching for kinder treatments gives parents like her, something to hold onto.
“When you’re sitting in the hospital room with your child really unwell, it’s really nice to know that there’s people out there still fighting and coming up with better options for children,” Ms Catania said.
“Fifteen, or less than 15 years ago, Maxi’s protocol wasn’t available, so that would have meant that she would have had to have undergone really aggressive chemotherapy, which is life-threatening in itself . . . that’s why research is so important.
“Hope is the only thing that gets you through. It sounds a bit cliche, but hope is honestly what gets you through, and you just keep fighting for your child. You just never give up.”
Today, Maxi is officially in remission. She proudly started kindergarten in February — a milestone her family once feared she might never see.
“I don’t think things ever return to normal,” she said. “I think of it as a life before leukemia and a life after.
“We’re still having regular monitoring. She had surgery last Wednesday, still checking that the leukemia hasn’t come back . . . so it’s just a new kind of normal, whatever that means.”
Despite the ongoing checks, Maxi’s spirit remains unshakeable. Pointing to the mark on her chest, her family makes sure she knows what a warrior she is.
“We tell her all the time, ‘What did you beat?’ Leukemia,” Ms Catania smiled through her tears.
“She wears her port scar with pride. No one will ever mess with her, I hope not, anyway. But yeah, she’s so proud. We’re all so proud of her, our whole family, for what she went through.”
As Perth prepares for Telethon weekend, Ms Catania credited the community’s support for giving her family the best possible environment to save their daughter.
“You compare it when you connect with other families around the world going through APML, and you can’t compare what we have here compared to other countries around the world, and that’s thanks to Telethon,” she said.
“You just can’t compare the facilities, the treatment, the care. It’s the best in the world, so I’m very grateful that we live in Perth and have an amazing facility like PCH.”