Bella & Ritchie: Caring for a child with cancer and Down syndrome

Well, when she got the diagnosis I was thinking: ‘How the hell could this be happening? She has got enough on her plate.’ I thought it was going to go down real bad, but to be honest, she was the Queen. She’s the one to lift the doctors up. She was joking around with them, laughing.

Don’t get me wrong, there was the stage where it took seven people to give her medicine: six to hold her down and one to give the medicine. Down syndrome children can be very strong when they want.

But hospitals do love kids with Down syndrome. Any therapist that has worked with kids with Down syndrome will say to me ‘How are you going? They are beautiful children, aren’t they?’ If you met Bella she would melt your heart. She is an amazing girl.

Because she’s got Down syndrome, I wanted to treat her like a princess for a few years before she went to school and I did. And I think she’s better for it. I said to my wife; ‘I’m connected to Bella I spent four years at her beck and call. I’m her slave!”

I’m not! But you know, I’m there. If she calls me I come running.

When a kid is about to have chemo, the doctors prepare you for the worst. They’re preparing you for war, because they don’t know how it’s going to affect them – especially kids with Down syndrome because all the chromosomes are a bit different.

With Down syndrome they can go really bad or really good. There are times when they can’t take the full dosage of medicine too. But Bella is pretty advanced. I’ve been taking her to an occupational therapist and speech therapy. She’s been going really well.