Boy who had difficulty walking and said he was ‘constipated’ turned out to have cancer

Cancer often manifests itself in subtle and unexpected ways. This puts any unusual changes in your body into the spotlight. However, Adam was only two years old when he began to struggle with a frightening condition. Luckily, his mom Sheena Harrad, now 37, persevered until her boy was properly diagnosed.

Sheena, from Coleville, Derbyshire, took Adam to the doctors when she was worried about his lack of verbal communication and frequent crying.

However, experts chalked up the two-year-old’s suffering to constipation, telling Sheena that he just needed to potty train him.

Speaking about her struggle for help, she said: “He couldn’t talk much, he was crying all the time, and I kept taking him to the doctors, but they said he was constipated.”

Sheen was not satisfied with this answer, and she continued to go to the emergency and emergency rooms, each time she was told that everything was fine.

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It wasn’t until Adam was five years old that he was finally diagnosed at Nottingham University Hospital in 2020.

An MRI showed that he had ganglioneuroblastoma, which describes an intermediate tumor arising from nerve tissue.

An intermediate tumor is between benign (slow growing and with little chance of spreading) and malignant (aggressive and prone to movement).

This means that ganglioneuroblastoma contains both of these parts, making it malignant.

Now eight-year-old Adam is back at school and playing with his friends. His mom, Sheena, is glad she persevered until she found an explanation for his symptoms.

Due to Adam’s scoliosis and weakness in his legs, he uses a walking aid to get around.

Sheena added, “There are no obstacles that are too big or too small for him. He is very cheeky. You wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with him.

“He loves playing on his Xbox, superheroes and eating – he’s a typical guy at that age.”