Since he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with MLL gene rearrangement last year, the family have endured more bad news than an 18-month-old should be accompanied with.

But this week, they received a glimmer of hope.

Issac had a bone marrow transplant on Monday in Sydney but with good news comes shocking side effects.

The procedure took place on Monday morning and by the afternoon, Issac had vomited 25 to 30 times, had bad cases of diarrhoea and stopped eating by mouth.

“He was just miserable,” Issac’s grandmother, Lisa Little, said.

“He got quite ill.

“Sometimes he would relax, smile and try and play but most of the day he spent lying on the bed.”

Issac has developed a case of mucositis, which causes inflammation in the digestive tract, starting with ulcers in his mouth.

He has been placed on a morphine drip and is being fed intravenously. 

“What he’s going through is normal and it will get worse before it gets better,” Miss Little said.

“It’s just a matter of waiting.”

Another side effect of one of the drugs is that Issac will never be able to have children.

“I think I was more upset about it but if we still get to have him, then so be it,” Miss Little said.

Issac has memorised the colour of uniforms worn by the surgeons and becomes upset or distraught when he sees one of them.

Miss Little said his numerous experiences with surgeons and anaesthesiologists, which have been predominantly men, has given him a fear of males.

Miss Little said they had to reluctantly ask for a change in nurses because Issac began crying when he woke up to a male nurse.

The family will be in Sydney for at least the next 100 days as Issac is monitored and given a course of preventative medication to ensure the transplant is a success.

You can help the family by donating at www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-issac-beat-acute-lymphoblastic-leukemia-all-/265753