We are raising funds for The Sienna Teresa Fund to raise money for research into hepatoblastoma. Sienna was two years old when in April 2022 she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a cancer of the liver.

Her mum Kerry and dad Mark share her story.

The first significant change in Sienna, our beautiful ray of sunshine, was on Tuesday, 15 March 2022 when she stopped walking and complained of a pain in her left foot. We took her to Worthing A&E where she had an x-ray, which showed no cause for concern. We were told it was probably nothing and she would soon start walking again.

However, we returned a couple of days later as she was still not walking, so further x-rays were conducted on her hip and her full leg, but again, there were no concerns found. We were advised to return after the weekend if she was still unable to walk, which we did when
nothing had changed. This time blood tests were carried out by the orthopaedic team, who said that the issue wasn’t mechanical. The team prescribed liquid iron for low haemoglobin, while her platelets were high too, which they said was a response to inflammation.

On 26 March, with no improvement, we took Sienna to the Royal Alexander Children’s Hospital. The doctor that saw us said that no child should be off their feet without good reason, and so Sienna
was admitted immediately. She had a full physical examination carried out for the first time, during which the doctor felt a large abdominal mass, leading to an urgent ultra-sound and more bloods. The results showed an enlarged liver and an alpha-fetoprotein that was off the scale.

This indicated a primary liver cancer.

An MRI scan was carried out along with a CT scan with contrast, and Sienna’s case was presented to the King’s College Hospital and The Royal Marsden MDT. On 1 April 2022, the diagnosis was confirmed as cancer - high-risk hepatoblastoma. From the ultrasound it was identified that she had a portal vein thrombosis.

She is being treated across four hospitals - Royal Marsden, King’s College Hospital, St George’s Hospital and the Royal Alexander Children’s Hospital – with chemotherapy every two weeks for three months, followed by a liver transplant and further chemotherapy, yet to be agreed. Her treatment plan is a minimum of six months in total, dependent on her response. If well enough, Sienna will have an operation to remove an ovary for future use.

Sienna is a wonderfully intelligent girl, who loves her dogs and cat, playing with her teenage siblings - Luca, Tamsin, Bradley and Chase - and nursery friends. She is caring and warm hearted, and the life and soul of our family. She also loves animals, colouring, stickers, playing with cars, and watching Peppa Pig or Pingu. She is a real joy of a child and an absolute gift.

Sienna has a risk of being deaf as a result of her treatment and there are a number of other potential long-term side effects.
We’ve set up the Sienna Teresa Fund with CCLG to raise vital funds for research into hepatoblastoma, to find better, kinder, more effective treatments that not only cures children, but helps limit the amount of these side effects. We also want to raise awareness of childhood cancers - to aid early diagnosis – and of hepatoblastoma, in particular. We also want to raise awareness of liver transplants in small children, like Sienna. We have hundreds of people waiting to support, raise funds and help us raise awareness for the terrible situation and trauma that Sienna, and children like her, are facing.