Warrnambool family appeals for help as little Elsie fights on

From the time she was born she has battled against the odds. Now, facing the biggest challenge of her short life, the happy Warrnambool girl’s smile isn’t fading.

Her parents, Anthony and Geraldine and brothers Archie, 5, and Harry, seven weeks, have uprooted their lives to remain in Elsie’s corner as she faces her latest health worry head on.

Elsie, 20 months, was born with Downs syndrome, diagnosed at 20 weeks gestation after genetic screening.

Soon after the Mitchells learnt they were having a girl, they were told she would be born with major heart issues and require surgery within the first few months of life.

“She required around the clock parental care, feeding and isolation to counter the inevitable delays in her physical development and avoid any illness due to her weak immune, all of which represented grave risks to her,” Mr Mitchell said. 

“She got through her heart surgery (at three months) and we went home thinking we'd been through the worst of it.”

But late in 2015 a fresh challenge confronted the family.

“This time we noticed a bit of a rash on her tummy, we rushed her to the GP and he sent away some blood,” Mr Mitchell said.

The samples showed poor counts and Elsie spent time at Warrnambool hospital before the diagnosis and a move to the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“On Christmas Eve she was diagnosed with leukemia (AML). We went home and packed a bag and haven’t been back since.”

The family won’t return home until Elsie’s treatment, expected to take six to eight months, is complete. Their Christmas tree is still standing in their Warrnambool home.

Adding to the trauma, Mrs Mitchell was 34 weeks pregnant at the time and their eldest child was due to start school.

“It’s a hard thing to be going through at the best of times, but we also had issues around the birth,” Mr Mitchell said. 

“After we got over the initial shock we came to terms with what a diagnosis of leukemia meant. We will not be home as family for quite a while.

“We welcomed our third child to the world in February a long way from home and our five-year-old son has had to start prep at a local school.”

Mr Mitchell said the signs for Elsie so far were positive. “But we won’t know until the end how it’s gone,” he said.

While the family’s real life is on hold, they are adjusting to their temporary home in Melbourne as best they can. 

“We’re now in more permanent accommodation. We were living in emergency accommodation and relying on family, so from that point of view the stresses have stopped and now we’re able to focus entirely on Elsie,” Mr Mitchell said.

But financially, pressure is increasing and, despite being unused to seeking help, the family has launched a crowdfunding campaign at chuffed.org

“Geraldine worked and I had a small business, but we’ve pretty much had to drop everything,” Mr Mitchell said.

“As individuals and as a family unit the emotional and physical levels of stress have been enormous. Through all these stresses and pressures we have had to stop working and still maintain the bills and mortgage from home and also rent and bills here in Melbourne.

“We’ve been getting really squeezed.”

The crowdfunding campaign, started about two weeks ago, has so far raised almost $5000 to help get the family through the next few months.

“We’ve been absolutely blown away, it’s amazing how many people are supporting us, even people we haven’t seen for a long time,” Mr Mitchell said.

“We’ve got pretty good family support from Warrnambool.”

Mrs Mitchell said the family was overwhelmed by the help they had received.

“We’ve been deeply touched by people’s generosity with their time and money so far and as previously self-sufficient people have had to learn how to gratefully accept help when it is offered,” she said.

These days, the Mitchells spend most of their family time at the hospital.

“There’s a lot of juggling and a lot of sleepless nights,” Mr Mitchell said.

While Mrs Mitchell said it was a long process of intensive chemotherapy, Elsie was coping well.

“She doesn’t stop unless there’s something wrong,” she said.

“Everything has been on schedule so far so hopefully we can return home at the end of June.”

At the end of each month Elsie has bone marrow tested to try and gauge if she is on track.

“The levels are dropping and we’ll know more at the end of this month,” Mrs Mitchell said.

“We’re hopeful everything will be okay.”

Donations to the fund-raising campign can be made at https://chuffed.org/project/elsies-story