One minute our girl, 13, had earache but hours later she was dead – it was so fast
WHEN teenager Julia Chavez started suffering earache and a headache her parents took her to get checked out.
The 13-year-old was prescribed antibiotics at a local urgent care centre - but died from undiagnosed leukaemia just 12 hours later.
Over the weekend, the youngster had felt unwell and on Sunday she was taken to a hospital in Augusta, Columbia, US.
After having scans and blood tests, medics said she had leukaemia.
Her heartbroken dad, Dennis Lee Chavez said his little girl had bleeding in the brain, lungs and stomach.
Posting to social media he said: "That’s where we found out she had leukemia. It came on so hard and so fast.
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"Doctors told us there was no way we could have known.”
Alongside the earache and headache, Dennis said the teenager also suffered with occasional bruising.
However, they put this down to her being a tomboy.
"When she would get a bruise, we would ask how she got it, and she would say, 'I don't know,' and shrug it off. We thought that it was because she's got a bit of tomboy in her," he added.
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Speaking to the , her mum said that Julia never had 'anything more than a sniffle'.
The family stated that Julia had wanted to be an artist, and that she was fascinated by Japanese culture.
She also prioritised her family and had great relationships with her siblings.
In order to help pay with costs for food and medical expenses, friends of the family have set up a Venmo account under '@Jenna-Randall' and have also set up a CashApp page '$jennabear1987'.
"The family is doing the best that they can.
"Less than 12 hours ago, they lost their daughter. Bills don't stop, so I thought it was really important to take that burden off of them", Nicole Abbot, a friend of the family said.
Leukaemia is a cancer of the white blood cells and there are various different types, Macmillan Cancer Support states.
Leukaemia signs you need to know
"Leukaemia is named according to the type of white blood cell which is affected and whether it is chronic or acute.
"Acute leukaemias come on suddenly, often within days or weeks, progressing quickly and need to be treated urgently. Chronic leukaemias develop more slowly, often over many months or years," guidance states.
Experts said that acute leukaemias are more likely to cause symptoms that appear over a few weeks, and people will feel quite ill, quite quickly.
However, there are some symptoms you could experience, these include:
- looking pale
- feel very tired – this is a very common symptom
- feel short of breath
- feel dizzy or lightheaded
- have palpitations (feel your heart is beating quickly)
- keep getting infections
- feel unwell and run down
- have a sore throat or mouth
- have a fever or high temperature
- bruising without any obvious cause
- bleeding gums
- nosebleeds
- blood spots or rashes on the skin (called petechiae)
- heavy periods.
You might also experience night sweats, unexplained weight loss, aches and visual disturbances.
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The symptoms you experience will differ depending on the type of leukaemia you have.
If you are worried about any of your symptoms then you should speak to your GP, in the event of an emergency, always call 999 or visit your nearest A&E department.