IN the mere three years she has been alive, Shu Qin has endured more uncertainty and pain than most adults.
First, the uncertainty over the cause of what seemed like flu-like symptoms.
Then, the discovery that prompted doctors to ask her mother a strange question: Has your child been eating her hair?
That question stumped Madam Kou You Wei, 31, and her husband.
Their little girl had been losing her appetite.
Last month, they finally discovered the awful truth about their only child: She has a tumour.
Shu Qin has stage four neuroblastoma, a rare cancer of the nervous system. Her stomach is bloated like a balloon.
She sports a bald head because her parents decided to shave off all her hair. They were concerned that the hair loss from chemotherapy would upset her.
Shu Qin, with her mother.
Madam Kou, a housewife, said: 'Atone point, she could drink only 40ml (about two tablespoons) of milk or fruit juice each day because the tumour was pressing down on her stomach, causing her to lose her appetite.'
MALIGNANT LUMP
Shu Qin has undergone two sessions of chemotherapy and is awaiting surgery (likely to be in March) to remove the dumpling-sized malignant tumour above her kidney.
The girl and her parents are permanent residents who moved to Singapore from China in October 2006.
Her father Shu Yuan, 32, is an electronics engineer.
Madam Kou said Shu Qin has lost about 5kg because of the tumour. She now weighs 13.8kg and is able to eat solid food, such as her favourite dumplings, for her meals.
The family tries to accommodate her requests. Madam Kou said: 'At this stage, we just want her to be happy. She is our only child and we just want to do all that we can to save her.'
She added that Shu Qin never once cried despite the countless injections, treatments and checkups that she had to go through.
Not understanding her parents' decision to shave her bald, Shu Qin, who used to have shoulder-length hair, asked her mother 'why (she had) suddenly become a boy'.
Dr Chan Mei Yoke, senior consultant of haematology and oncology at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), said it is still too early to say how Shu Qin is responding to the treatment.
Dr Chan, who is treating the girl, said about five new cases of neuroblastoma are diagnosed here every year.
Neuroblastoma is a relatively rare type of childhood cancer.
It usually begins in the adrenal glands, which are part of the nervous system found in the abdomen.
Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Sometimes, the cancer may return after treatment.
Madam Kou said that Shu Qin had always been a healthy child.
'She was a strong girl. She never had fever or flu as a toddler.'
Her health problems started last October, when she had high fever that would not subside despite repeated visits to doctors.
The fever continued for more than 20 days even though she took antibiotics and flu medicine.
Medical checks did not reveal much and the doctors concluded that she had a viral flu.
She eventually recovered.
But on 4 Dec, Shu Qin complained of a bloated stomach. Sometimes, she would throw up after a few mouthfuls of food. When her condition did not improve a few days later, her parents took her to KKH.
An ultrasound scan revealed some fibre-like material in her stomach.
'We were surprised when the doctor asked us if she had a habit of eating hair,' Madam Kou said.
When the doctor diagnosed Shu Qin with cancer the next day, Madam Kou was shocked. She thought the doctor had made a wrong diagnosis and that the staff member would apologise to them soon.
She said: 'It was only after the results of the checkup were out that we believed her and forced ourselves to accept it.'
Now, Shu Qin cannot enjoy simple pleasures such as playing with other children.
'For her, even a minor case of flu is dangerous as her immune system is very weak,' Madam Kou said.
So Shu Qin spends her days playing with her toys in their three-room Yishun flat.
Her parents hope to buy her an indoor slide after her surgery.
