World of difference in a year

Alicia Steenson, 5, is in remission and looking forward to starting school next year.

Last Christmas feels like a lifetime ago for the Steenson family.

The family realised something was seriously wrong with youngest child Alicia, then 4, on Christmas Day 2013 when her eye swelled up. She had been sick for a couple of months but doctors had not found the cause.

In mid-January, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Burkitt lymphoma - a rare and aggressive form of the cancer.

It was only after she became sick that parents Trent and Vicky Steenson discovered their rental house was contaminated with methamphetamine. The couple believe it caused Alicia's cancer.

A year on, Mrs Steenson is looking forward to celebrating Christmas knowing her five children are all healthy.

After five months in Starship Hospital and eight treatments, doctors declared Alicia was in remission and fit to go home.

She now has check-ups at Tauranga Hospital every month and is about to start school at Greerton Village School.

"It's amazing. It's wonderful ... This year we've got healthy kids. That's all I want for Christmas. We're looking forward to the future and at the start of the year we weren't really.

"They said if it doesn't come back by January there's probably only a 10 per cent chance she will relapse," she said.

Oldest sibling Kirsta Steenson, 16, said the whole family was thrilled to have Alicia back home.

"It feels like it's been a whole lifetime in a year," she said.

"Her hair's growing back really curly and nice and soft. She's 20kg now. When she got out of the chemo she was 15kg. She had a massive fifth birthday because it was also her remission party."

Alicia was again "running around all the time laughing" but the experience had left a mark, Kirsta said.

"It's definitely changed her for the best. She is so much happier and looking forward to everything. You can see it in her face. She just glows."

Mrs Steenson said it was only Alicia's bravery that got the family through.

"She tells you how it is and she's actually taught me to be a lot more assertive. She's actually been quite inspiring.

"A lot of the time she seems so old and wise and other times she seems so timid and young."

When Alicia was diagnosed the family had the house they were renting tested and found it contaminated.

They moved in with a friend immediately and began the process of finding new home. The family left all their furniture and possessions in the house and started from scratch for fear they too were contaminated.

Since then, they have moved into a new rental home and have gathered new furniture thanks to generous locals who heard of their plight. It will be five years before doctors can declare Alicia completely cancer free.