RUNNING around her living room, watching Peppa Pig on TV, the only sign of Sienna Riley's life-threatening illness is the feeding tube taped to the side of her face.
But last November two-year-old Sienna was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of child cancer that attacks the body's nerve cells.
Only two months later her family discovered she also had a rare condition called cardiomyopathy that affects the heart muscle's function.
With very few symptoms it was only by chance the cancer was discovered by Sienna's father Darren Riley, 39.
He told the Chronicle: "She used to scream a lot but doctors just said she was a child that screamed a lot, then doctors said there was nothing wrong with her and said she had silent reflux.
"I found a mass under her ribs and took her to the doctor, but only after tests doctors discovered a mass on her stomach and she was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
"Neuroblastoma is a clever cancer – it can move and shift between organs so it can't be found. That's what happened at the beginning so the doctors couldn't find it because it had hidden behind her kidneys."
Once in hospital, Sienna had more tests and was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. She was given an 18 per cent chance of survival.
Parents Darren and Emma, 32, who moved to Braintree from Nottingham in 2005, spent last Christmas and the new year in hospital by Sienna's bedside as part of an eight-month stay in Great Ormond Street. They are now raising cash for lifesaving treatment in Germany or America.
Mrs Riley said: "As she was in hospital for so long everyone there got to know her and she became the little character of the ward – they all called her their little fighter.
"Her doctor at Great Ormond Street said she'd never seen a child with both conditions.
"She's really special, a lot of children have one or the other, but she is fighting two things on two fronts."
Such a long stay away from the family caused other strains and Darren's mum Lilly quit her job in Nottingham to move to Braintree and look after the couple's other three children full-time.
"This is the side of cancer people don't see – how it affects the rest of the family. People look at Sienna and because her hair has grown back people think she isn't ill," said furniture designer Mr Riley.
Sienna is now receiving intense immunisation therapy – a trial treatment that the family had to battle to keep her on due to her underlying condition that reduced her heart function to just eight per cent.
She was initially given a course of radiotherapy and high intensity chemotherapy followed by eight months of immunisation therapy.
In February, the two-year-old will undergo surgery to remove the mass around her stomach.
The family then face an agonising wait to discover if the operation is a success. There is an 80 per cent chance of a relapse.
Mrs Riley said: "She made lots of friends in Great Ormond Street. You get to meet a lot of the parents and we know of one little girl who relapsed and is in a hospice now.
"Another boy we know relapsed and he passed away before his parents could raise enough money to send him to Germany.
"Losing Sienna is not an option. If she does relapse we want to have the money ready just in case."
It costs around £14,000 to go to Germany, including flights and the cost of drugs, but to go to America the total is nearer £155,000 for just a three-month course of treatment.
So far fundraising has involved events with friends and family and amounts to just over £4,000.
But Sienna will be home for Christmas and is currently enjoying being with her siblings – Courtney, 12, Leo, 7, and Lexis, 4.
Mrs Riley said: "We're really looking forward to Christmas this year, last year was so hard on the rest of the family, we had to Skype them from hospital.
"Next year will be tough as we'll be spending most of it in hospital again, so we're making the most of now."
Visit www.gofundme.com/3j2cg4 to donate to the appeal.
