This is Hull and East Riding -- Today, the Mail reports how IVF triplet Phoebe Shakesby, two, is fighting acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Here, health reporter *Emma Wright* speaks to Phoebe's parents Mark and Kerry, who tried for nine years to have children, about the tough road ahead.THEY arrived as a trio and had been inseparable since birth. But now Phoebe Shakesby does not get many chances to play with her brother Oscar and sister Olivia.
The two-year-old triplets have had to endure weeks apart since Phoebe was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Since doctors dealt the devastating news to her parents Mark and Kerry in November, Phoebe has spent just two-and-a-half weeks at home.
The couple, who had the triplets in December 2011 after spending £21,000 on five cycles of IVF, have been up and down the motorway to Leeds General Infirmary, where Phoebe is being treated.
As Phoebe's condition lowers her immune system's ability to fight off infections and illness, Olivia and Oscar have not been able to play with her as they would like.
"When she was first diagnosed, we were supposed to be going on holiday to a cottage," said Mark, 40.
"We decided the family would still take Olivia and Oscar so it wouldn't be as noticeable we weren't there if they were in different surroundings.
"But she doesn't get to see them much. The other two aren't allowed on the ward, so she doesn't get to play with them very often.
"I feel so sorry for her. She probably doesn't really understand what is going on.
"One minute, she is playing and laughing at home and then the next minute, she is shooting down the motorway and disappearing for weeks on end.
"It shouldn't happen to kids."
Kerry said Olivia and Oscar ask for Phoebe all the time and can't understand why their sister isn't with them.
"They miss her so much," she said.
"Being triplets, they are incredibly close and ask for her a lot.
"For the first ten weeks, we were advised not to bring them to hospital in case she caught an infection, but she missed them so much. It was just terrible."
The family also had to face the prospect of a second child with cancer, when doctors said Olivia was also at risk because she and Phoebe are identical.
Kerry said: "The doctors have run tests and Olivia was given a clean bill of health.
"But it's a worry, especially since the specialists told us they know more cases of identical twins both having leukaemia than not."
The chemotherapy treatment meant Phoebe's beautiful curls were falling out in clumps.
As Mark and Kerry could not bear to see their little girl losing her hair, they took the painful decision to shave her head instead.
"We were told her hair falling out could be painful and cause bleeding to her scalp," said Kerry.
"So, for Phoebe's sake, we decided to shave it off.
"It was hard, but something we just had to do."
Phoebe's condition has also been complicated by infections.
The line into her body for drug treatments has been infected on more than one occasion, which has delayed her chemotherapy and meant prolonged stays in hospital.
It meant she was in hospital on her second birthday on December 16 and on Christmas Day.
Instead, the family marked Christmas Day on January 5.
Mark said: "She had been really excited about opening her presents. It meant she didn't get to play with her toys until January.
"She didn't even have Christmas dinner on January 5 because she was tired and needed to have a sleep.
"The second she woke up, she was back off to Leeds again with an infection."
Just two years ago, in December 2011, the family were celebrating when the triplets were born on the 16th – one day before Mark's birthday.
After nine years of trying for a child, which included five rounds of IVF treatment and a miscarriage, the babies were born ten weeks prematurely by Caesarean section.
They all arrived within four minutes of each other and weighed between 2lb 10oz and 3lb 10oz, with Phoebe the smallest.
Mark said: "Obviously, you don't ever want a child to get leukaemia.
"But the doctors have actually told us that if she was going to get it, it has come at the best possible age.
"She was the smallest when she was born, so she is clearly a little fighter."
For now, Kerry and Mark divide their time taking it in turns to be with Phoebe and then be at home with Olivia and Oscar.
Last night, Phoebe was well enough to be back at the house with her family in east Hull, although she is too weak to feed and is given food through a tube in her nose.
Kerry said: "It is really hard, especially as Mark and I are hardly ever together. It has been a tough couple of weeks for all of us. Even though I'm living it, it almost doesn't feel like it's happening to my family and me.
"I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from the nightmare soon. But you just get on with it. You have to."
• If you would like to help the family, visit Kerry Shakesby's Just Giving page.
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*• Health news for Hull and East Yorkshire* Reported by This is 3 days ago.