A Mandurah mother is urging the WA Health Department to make blood tests mandatory in hospital emergency departments, believing it would have helped her son receive cancer treatment sooner.
Katrina Turner first took her son Zandyr to Peel Health Campus in July after a playground fall left him in severe pain.
He received an x-ray and was prescribed mild-pain relief.
Ten days later, he was still in pain and was taken back to Peel Health Campus where he received the same treatment, but no explanation for the ongoing pain.
A visit to Perth Children’s Hospital two weeks later confirmed he had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Katrina told 7NEWS she doesn’t blame the staff at Peel Health Campus but wants to see mandatory blood tests for unexplained bone pain.
“A simple blood test would pick it up so early,” Katrina said.
"Then you can just get the treatment - you have the blood test, then they do the bone marrow biopsy, and as soon as they have the results from that, it's usually only about eight hours before they can start your chemo."
Katrina and her husband Daniel now make the journey from Mandurah to Perth Children’s Hospital three times a week in order for Zandyr to get treatment.
Although Zandyr now faces months of intensive treatment, his parents say they are grateful that doctors at Perth Children’s Hospital found his leukemia through blood testing.
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