A mother has expressed frustration that a series of medical professionals, including a specialist, failed to diagnose her son’s bone cancer 12 months ago.
Nine-year-old Yavuz Yalcin underwent multiple scans, MRIs and X-rays after complaining of pain in his right leg, knee and foot in early October 2023.
His parents’ concerns were dismissed by doctors who failed to discover the fourth-year student’s tumour on his spine.
“They made me feel crazy,” Yavuz’s mother, Gulsum Buket Yalcin, told Daily Mail Australia.
After Yavuz experienced pain in his right leg for about three months, his family, from Erskine Park in Sydney’s west, took him to a local hospital.
Yavuz was admitted to hospital and had X-rays of his hip, leg, knee and foot, but medical staff could not find anything wrong.
“They told me they had ruled out ‘things like cancer and tumors,'” Gulsum Buket said.
Hospital staff referred Yavuz for MRIs of his knee and foot and scheduled follow-up appointments for the family.
Despite undergoing multiple tests and seeing a specialist, medical staff did not consider that the pain experienced by nine-year-old Yavuz Yalcin (pictured) could be radiating pain to his spine.
The fourth-year student (pictured) missed weeks of school in 2023 due to tests to find out why he was having pain in his right leg, knee and foot. After recently discovering a tumour on Yavuz’s spine, the keen student now has a 12-month battle ahead of him.
But all the tests came out fine.
At the time, the boy, who would soon turn ten, was limping and using crutches.
Yavuz then began seeing a physiotherapist at the same hospital and was soon given a referral to see an orthopaedic surgeon on 6 December.
But four days before the appointment with the specialist, Yavuz’s pain suddenly stopped and he stopped using his crutches.
“The doctor said, ‘He’s walking fine, he’s not in pain anymore,'” Gulsum Buket said.
They said, “It’s a bit mysterious.”
“The specialist said to me, ‘Why are you here? Why did you bring him? He’s fine.'”
“I said, ‘I’m trying to do the right thing as a mother: I want to know what’s going on with him.'”
Gulsum Buket said she wanted answers because she knows her son better than anyone and he would never complain about being in pain if he wasn’t.
“I know my son, but unfortunately they treated me like I was crazy,” she said.
Yavuz (pictured when he was younger) is frustrated that it took him a year to discover he had cancer.
The family is going through a huge economic crisis, as Yavuz’s mother, Gulsum Buket, had to stop working. But the family still has to pay for childcare so that her husband can continue working (pictured, from left to right, Yavuz, Gulsum Buket, Sevki and the family’s two-year-old child).
‘We attended the appointment for five minutes and were charged a $300 consultation fee.
“I should have trusted my instinct. I thought I was asking for a second opinion from the specialist.”
In June of this year, Yavuz’s pain returned.
“We thought maybe he had an injury, maybe muscle soreness, maybe growing pains.”
The mother said he was given warm compresses, painkillers, a massage on his leg and creams, and was taken back to his GP for further X-rays.
“Nobody ever said this could be pain radiating from his spine,” Buket said.
After Yavuz complained of terrible pain one night in late July, Sevki took him back to the local hospital, but Buket knew there would be no results.
“They did nothing. I saw that we were repeating the same cycle,” he said.
After taking her son to Westmead Children’s Hospital, Yavuz was given a crucial referral for an MRI of her spine, where a mass was detected.
The nine-year-old boy was soon diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
Yavuz’s mother described her 9-year-old son as a “gentle” older brother and someone who “loves his friends” (pictured, Yavuz, right, with his brother).
The family began fighting for a diagnosis a year ago and Yavuz’s mother, Gulsum Buket, said many medical professionals treated her as if she was “crazy.”
“Unfortunately we were diagnosed late, a year later,” said Gulsum Buket.
‘As there are no other scans to compare from a year ago, (the progress of the cancer) is unfortunately uncertain.
“But he developed metastases in his lungs. There are four small tumors.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have had that last year.”
Her two-year-old brother’s gentle and loving older brother was also frustrated at being diagnosed late.
“He immediately said that if he had been diagnosed last year, he would have finished the treatment already,” Gulsum Buket said.
Yavuz is now undergoing 12 months of intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but his prognosis remains uncertain.
Buket said his son has an adventurous spirit, loves the beach and nature, and wants to be a YouTuber when he grows up.
Yavuz, who loves math and science, misses his school friends.
“He loves to chat, he loves his friends. Everyone calls him from school,” she said.
Gulsum Buket (left) with Yavuz (right) has used up all her sick days due to numerous medical appointments and has put her work on hold so she can be with her son as he battles bone cancer.
One of the hardest moments since receiving Yavuz’s diagnosis was the loss of his hair, which his mother said was “long and beautiful.”
“I promised him I would shave my hair too.”
The family’s financial situation makes the battle even more difficult. Buket stopped working at the end of July to be with her sick son, in addition to paying for many private medical tests.
And since her husband needs to work, the family pays for daycare for their two-year-old son.
Gulsum Buket said the only silver lining is that chemotherapy has not yet affected Yavuz’s appetite, and he now craves McDonald’s.
When McDonald’s Australia licensee Alex Lee heard about Yavuz’s appetite for his favourite food, he was delighted to be able to bring joy to the nine-year-old and his family.
Yavuz (pictured left with his younger brother) has an adventurous spirit and is good at math and science.
Mr Lee, whose restaurants in western Sydney include the one closest to the family, McDonalds St Clair, told Daily Mail Australia he would be happy to donate $1,000 and Happy Meal vouchers to help support Yavuz and his family.
Gulsum Buket’s workplace has helped establish a GoFundMe Page to help families with their bills.
“Right now, every day is a challenge for us. I don’t know what will happen next,” he said.
The family urges medical professionals to listen more to parents and children.
“I think doctors need to take people more seriously, especially if a child is in pain,” she said.
