'In April, I discovered a rash on my daughter's back. We've been in and out of hospital ever since.'

This post is one person's experience and should not be considered medical advice.

The signs were small. 

At four years old, dark circles started appearing under Quinn's eyes, she had a runny nose and felt lethargic.

"I just thought it was something viral," her mother, Sheridan, told Mamamia. 

Then, one night in April, after giving her daughter a bath, the 31-year-old noticed something unusual. 

"I saw a spot on her neck and some near her armpit."

With her husband away and another daughter at home, the mother-of-two from Dubbo, NSW, planned on monitoring Quinn overnight before getting her checked out by a medical professional. 

But hours later, more spots started appearing in a kind of rash. This time on her back. 

"I [thought] ok, this is spreading or it's getting worse, so I'll take her into hospital."

There, Quinn was treated with antibiotics for meningococcal - which Sheridan thought would have been the worst-case scenario at the time - and given a blood test. 

Around 3:30pm the next day, doctors approached Sheridan and her family. 

She immediately knew something was wrong. 

"Just the way they walked into the room... that look and that feeling, you just know that it's not right," she recalled. 

Then the doctor uttered the word leukaemia. What happened next was a blur.

"In my head, I [kept thinking] like 'really? This kid? She was born at 29 weeks pregnant, she's already had her fight. Why this kid?'," she said.

"...But it's just the card she's unfortunately been dealt."

Just like other parents who Sheridan has spoken to, "you never think it's going to be you."

"You never think it's going be your family or it's going to be your child until it happens and then your life's forever changed."

Watch: Lea is an international exchange student who at 21 years of age was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. Post contines below. 

The next day Sheridan and her family flew from Dubbo to Sydney for Quinn's treatment and moved into the Ronald Mcdonald House. They have been in and out of hospital ever since. 

First, Quinn was put on steroids and then she began chemotherapy to treat her acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - the most common form of childhood cancer which comes with a high risk of relapse.

She's also had to undergo 25 blood transfusions. 

"I'm really thankful for blood donors because they're literally keeping our children alive," said Sheridan. 

From the very beginning, Sheridan and her husband decided they would always be honest with Quinn and never hide anything from her.

"She can tell you what's going on with her body, she knows as much as we do basically. We never kept any secrets from her.

"I never wanted her to feel scared. Just because it's a traumatic event, it doesn't mean that it has to be traumatising. I thought we'll keep upbeat, we'll make this as fun as we can and we can try and make some good memories out of this experience because you only get one life to live."

Quinn is now five months into chemotherapy, which Sheridan says has been "a lot on her body".

Six weeks into Quinn's treatment, Sheridan started to notice bald patches at the back of her daughter's head. 

"You'd brush [her head] and the brush would be full of hair."

"She seemed to cope with it pretty well [but] she had moments where she would say 'I don't want my hair to fall out'," she told Mamamia.

The t-hirts helping kids like Quinn.

As part of her treatment, Quinn has had to have a central line inserted into her chest. It's something she's become quite protective over. 

"When she gets hooked up to the IV drip, she knows to be careful with her line... and if she's on the ground and wants to get on the bed [she knows] to jump over her line. She's very conscious of it and she can feel it pulling too." 

One thing that has helped Quinn and over 13 thousand children like her, is the Supertee.

The free medical garment is made specifically for kids in hospital by children’s charity The Fairfight Foundation. It features studs to allow doctors to easily access a child's shoulders, side of their body and underarms for checks - all while letting them look like a little superhero. 

Quinn wearing her Supertee. Image: Supplied.

"Quinn has a dressing change once a week so it's just really handy to be able to access her line and change the dressing without having to remove all her clothing. They feel safe and secure and not so exposed, especially at the beginning when everything's a lot."

For kids like Quinn, who loves her Captain Marvel tee, the garment also helps them remember they too can conquer whatever is thrown at them. 

"They just bring the imagination back into it. They are little superheroes going through their own battles and it's important for them to feel they can overcome anything and that they can get through it and can win." 

It's why Sheridan says it's so important to donate to initiatives like the Supertee and support funding for medical research. 

Quinn now has five months left of intensive chemotherapy left before she starts on her long-term maintenance.

Looking to the future, Sheridan is hoping her and her family will be able to go back home to Dubbo one day if everything goes according to plan. 

But she's aware that even if they do return home, life will never go back to the way it was before they left. 

"You're forever changed, it's not just like slotting back into your old life and things are the same. There's always going to be that worry of relapse, the worry of 'will this come back?  Did they get everything? Is her body going to make a mutated cell again?'

"It just makes you edgy about things. But I don't know if that's just part of the process."

Reflecting on everything her family has been through, she wants to remind other parents to "follow their gut" if they feel like something may be wrong with their child. 

"I don't want to make people paranoid, but if [your kids] are lethargic and there's bruising... and if you just feel like something's not right, get the blood tests done and just make sure they are okay."

You can find out more about Supertee here.

Feature Image: Supplied.