The first alarming signs appeared at the end of May when the girl was on vacation with her family in Devon. Usually energetic Armey, whom her loved ones call Melly, began to tire quickly, lost her appetite, and almost stopped playing, as reported by the New York Post. According to her mother, Nikki, her daughter's condition was visibly deteriorating. During walks, Melly tried to step aside and sit down, as she had almost no strength left for her usual childhood activities. On May 31, the girl was taken to the emergency department of Warwick Hospital. There, the family was told that the cause of her poor health was likely a viral infection. On June 2, her mother took her to the family doctor. This time, the medical staff diagnosed tonsillitis, prescribed antibiotics, and assured the woman that otherwise, the girl was healthy. However, Melly's condition did not improve. She practically stopped getting out of bed, did not want to talk, walk, or eat. "I was told that she was completely healthy. But we understood that this was not the case because she is usually very sporty, active, and full of energy," Nikki recalls. Her mother brought her daughter back to the hospital, but they again suggested tonsillitis and advised completing the course of antibiotics. The family was already convinced that the cause was much more serious. In addition to general weakness, she experienced pain in her shins and groin. Since Melly practices gymnastics and had sustained an injury shortly before, her mother initially assumed that some symptoms might be related to sports. On June 10, Nikki once again went to Warwick Hospital with her daughter and insisted on a blood test. "I said, 'I’m not leaving here until you do a blood test on her,'" the woman said. After the examination, the girl was hospitalized. Doctors considered several possible diagnoses, including sepsis, tuberculosis, and an infection that the child might have contracted during the family trip to Egypt in February. Melly spent 15 days at Warwick Hospital, after which she was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital. The examinations continued, and on July 3, the family finally received a diagnosis — stage IV Burkitt lymphoma. Burkitt lymphoma is a rare and rapidly progressing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that develops from B-lymphocytes. The disease predominantly occurs in children and can spread rapidly throughout the body. By the time the diagnosis was made, Melly's illness had already affected her spleen, liver, and bone marrow. The news was a heavy blow for the family. According to Nikki, the weeks of uncertainty, when her daughter's condition worsened but no one could name the exact cause, were especially tormenting. "It was a very traumatic time — your daughter is in the hospital, and you don’t know for weeks what is happening to her. It was very hard and unpleasant because every doctor told me that she was fine," the mother said. She noted that Melly had rarely been sick before and had never been hospitalized, so the parents immediately felt that what was happening was beyond a typical infection. "She wasn’t getting out of bed, didn’t want to walk, eat, or drink. For a healthy and active child, it is completely abnormal to be so weak," Nikki says. At the same time, the symptoms of the disease turned out to be varied and initially did not form an obvious picture. The first symptom was neck pain, which led doctors to suspect meningitis for a while. Then her shins began to hurt, and later, her groin area. The symptoms appeared and disappeared. Nikki admits that after yet another suggestion of tonsillitis, she already had a feeling that something much more serious might be behind her daughter's condition. The girl's mother believes that such symptoms in children can be underestimated precisely because each of them seems nonspecific on its own. "It would have been better to assume the worst case first and rule it out. Being without a diagnosis for three or four weeks was heartbreaking," she said. Now 11-year-old Melly is undergoing intensive treatment. She is expected to have about six months of chemotherapy. The illness has completely changed the family's plans. Many planned trips had to be canceled. Relatives organized a fundraising campaign to help the parents cope with expenses during treatment and later fulfill some of the girl's dreams. According to Melly's aunt, Emma White, the girl especially wants to visit Disney World in Florida and Lapland. Initially, the family hoped to raise about $675, but Melly's story resonated widely. The amount of donations has already approached $12,150. Part of the money the relatives intend to donate to Birmingham Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House charity in gratitude for the help they provide to Melly and her parents. "Strangely enough, during the scariest time imaginable, all of this has brought our family even closer together," Emma admitted.
