Doctors initially reassured the mum that her daughter’s tantrums were part of normal toddler behaviour, but weeks later, a blood test revealed she had an aggressive form of leukaemia15:39, 01 Jul 2026A mum who believed her two-year-old daughter’s screaming meltdowns were simply the “terrible twos” was left devastated when medical tests revealed she had an aggressive form of blood cancer.‌Alicia Bridge, 27, said doctors initially reassured her that her daughter’s, Ada, behaviour was normal for her age before tests showed she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.‌“Nobody expects their child to have cancer,” Alicia said. “My first thought was that she was going to die.”‌Looking back, the stay-at-home mum from Illinois, US, said the first signs appeared weeks earlier when her energetic toddler suddenly became exhausted. “She stopped fighting us on her naps and would go to bed early, even when she took a nap during the day,” said Alicia.‌Simple activities soon began to wear her daughter out: “She would complain about her legs hurting, even on a quick grocery run, she would often ask me to carry her, where before she was sick, she would be running up and down the aisles while I tried to chase her.“During play dates, instead of interacting with her friends, she would want to sit on my lap or just lay down on the ground.”Alicia initially believed Ada’s unusual behaviour was a symptom of her age or a late response to the birth of her brother, who was six months old at the time:‌“She would cry and scream for an hour and there wasn’t anything that we could do to calm her down.“These meltdowns were typically before going to an activity like ballet or or gymnastics and so I think she was experiencing bone pain and she knew going to something like this would cause her pain. She would have one of these meltdowns once a day.”‌Alicia also recalled how Ada began to bruise easily. After another child threw a toy car at her, Ada suffered a huge bruise on her forehead which got worse when she hit it a few days later. More concerns were raised when Ada’s skin tone became increasingly pale with a yellow tint.However, when Ada was looked at by a doctor in December 2025, Alicia was reassured that her daughter “looked great” and that her behaviour was likely due to her age.Two weeks later the toddler was taken to a paediatrician for her blood test after Alicia became alarmed by her pale complexion. The following day Alicia received a call telling her to go to hospital immediately.‌Alicia said: “We went to the ER not knowing what we were getting into. During that time, they took her blood and threw out the dreaded C-word. Ada’s blood levels were dangerously low and she needed multiple blood and platelet transfusions.”‌After a night's stay in hospital, the family were informed that Ada had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), fast-growing blood cancer. Ada spent eight days in hospital before doctors began intensive treatment, including chemotherapy, steroids and blood transfusions.‌Alicia said the treatment has been gruelling. Steroids caused swelling, muscle weakness and left Ada temporarily unable to walk, while repeated procedures and hospital visits have taken a heavy toll on the family.“It’s hard to see your child in pain every day,” Alicia said. “During things like port access, where they put a needle into her chest and we have to hold her while she screams, it breaks my heart.”Now three, Ada is responding well to treatment and is preparing for the next phase of chemotherapy.Article continues below“You never know what it is like to have a child with cancer until you are going through it,” Alicia said. “These children deserve to have a cure.”