Queensland girl Elvie Luik, 13, faces leukaemia fight
For most youngsters, turning 13 marks a new and exciting chapter in their lives — the start of the teenage years and the transition from childhood to becoming an adult, and all that goes with it.
When Elvie Luik turned 13 last month, she celebrated the milestone at Movie World and Wet'n'Wild with her family.
But over the Easter weekend the Queensland teenager began to feel sick with headaches, vomiting and lethargy.
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Doctors diagnosed Elvie with a mild infection, telling her mother Rosie the illness should resolve itself in about a week with some rest.
But Elvie did not get better and Rosie had a gut feeling something more serious was wrong.
Her intuition was confirmed when another emergency hospital visit revealed the young girl had leukaemia.
Doctors had never seen a white cell count so high.
The mother and daughter have already been through a lot. Rosie fell seriously ill after giving birth to Elvie, developing an infection that almost killed her and put her in hospital for three months.
Now Elvie faces her own fight for life.
Rosie Luik, 40, and her daughter Elvie, 13.
Credit: Supplied
Rosie, 40, originally thought her daughter had picked up a simple, common illness from someone at one of the theme parks.
'She didn't really have a very high temperature or anything like that so we thought maybe we'll just keep her home for a few days and just see how she goes,' she told 7NEWS.com.au.
For a few days Elvie's health was up and down. Some days she felt alright but others she wasn't well at all, her mother said.
When Elvie felt well enough to go back to school, Rosie soon received a call from the nurse saying Elvie needed to be picked up.
'I went and picked her up and then she threw up in the back of the car and then said she was feeling a lot better,' Rosie said.
But the teenager continued to vomit and complain of a bad headache, prompting Rosie to take her to emergency a few days later.
Doctors said Elvie likely had viral meningitis, an infection that is usually not very serious and goes away on its own.
'(They said) just go home and rest for seven to 10 days and she'll hopefully get better,' Rosie said.
'So I took her home and she just, she just wasn't getting better.'
Elvie's symptoms continued and, the day after Mother's Day, Rosie decided enough was enough.
'There's something else going on here,' she recalled thinking.
Rosie drove her daughter back to the emergency department where the young girl underwent a blood test and an MRI.
The results worried doctors.
'By the time we got back from the MRI, the doctor came in and said 'I need to do another blood test. Her white cell count is impossible, that's impossible to have that high of a white cell count. So, I'm just doing another test',' Rosie said.
Elvie was diagnosed with leukaemia the day after Mother's Day this year.
Credit: Supplied
Soon after, the oncology team came to visit.
With Rosie's husband listening on the phone, the family were told Elvie had leukaemia.
She was declared a medical emergency and was whisked away to the paediatric ICU.
Rosie said receiving her daughter's shocking diagnosis was completely overwhelming and numbing.
Explaining what having leukaemia meant to Elvie was just as bad.
'It was the most heartbreaking experience I've ever had in my life, and to just hear the words that came out of her mouth were just awful,' she said.
'She was just like 'I want to live, you need me here, my brothers and sisters need me here'.
'She was just beside herself.'
But as soon as Elvie was taken to the ICU, Rosie said something in her switched.
She wasn't going anywhere. She was going to live.
'(Elvie) just had this positive attitude. She's like 'It's OK mum, its' OK dad, I'm doing to beat this. I'm going to be here. I'm not going to leave you',' Rosie said.
Elvie has three older siblings, all of whom have stepped up to help in the face of the life-changing news.
Elvie and Rosie Luik.
Credit: Supplied
A traumatic postpartum
Bringing Elvie into the world 13 years ago was no easy feat for Rosie.
A year earlier, in 2011, Rosie had become Queensland's first altruistic surrogate when she gave birth to twins for her friend Lauren Lichtnauer.
Lichtnauer had undergone 21 failed IVF treatments and four miscarriages, and was resigned to the fact she could not have children of her own.
At this point, Rosie had already given birth three times.
In 2016 the surrogacy story made headlines when 60 Minutes revealed Lichtnauer had — against all odds — become pregnant just weeks before Rosie was due to give birth to the twins.
That same year, it was also revealed Rosie had almost died after giving birth to Elvie.
After the twins were born, Rosie developed a severe infection.
She eventually recovered and quickly fell pregnant with her own child — Elvie.
But just weeks after Elvie was born in 2012, Rosie fell sick again and had to have an emergency hysterectomy.
She then developed peritonitis, a life-threatening infection that causes inflammation of the abdomen and pelvic lining.
Rosie spent the next three months in hospital fighting for her life before eventually making a full recovery, again.
Elvie with her three older siblings.
Credit: Supplied
'The most beautiful soul'
Elvie is currently undergoing chemotherapy, with her prognosis at this stage unclear.
Despite this she has remained as positive as ever.
'I think she's trying to be strong for everyone and she's just the most beautiful soul,' Rosie said.
'That's really shining through in this, like she's just trying to take it one step at a time and just be as positive and see the joy and when (the doctors) say 'Great job, Elvie, you've done really well' she's really proud of herself.'
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Elvie and the family, with Rosie and her husband both cutting back on work to help look after their daughter.
Rosie said she's been overwhelmed by the response and all the love and support the family has received.
'We're just so grateful and we can't thank people enough,' she said.
'I mean (with) the surrogacy, being in the media with that was a little bit hard but our whole family unit ... everything we're about is helping people and being there for other people and this is just showing how much of a special person Elvie is, and how she's touched so many people.'
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