One six year old girl from Ohio became unable to walk because she was bumping into things. Her parents were convinced that the tumour on her brain caused this, but doctors said it was just a neurological problem and they needed surgery. Mommy blogger Nikki Ross explains what happened next: “Easter morning I awoke to two emails in my inbox,” she says. “One email confirmed our fears, a second one confirmed our suspicions.”
The “ava-may littleboy” is a six year old girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour caused her to bump into things, so she had to wear a helmet for the rest of her life.
Mum Just two months after surgery, Chloe is overjoyed with Evie-improvement. Mai’s (Picture: PA Real Life)
We all know that kids can be clumsy, and the occasional fall or scratch is typically not reason for alarm.
However, the cause for her six-year-old daughter running into objects turned out to be much more severe than she could have thought for one mother.
Chloe Smith, 31, a field care supervisor for a community care service, had to pick up her small kid, Evie-Mai, from school early on a daily basis because she kept falling down, getting ‘bumps and scrapes,’ and injuring herself.
Although Evie-Mai had always been clumsy, Chloe saw that it was growing substantially worse in November 2020.
‘I’d receive phone calls from her school almost every day, asking me to pick her up because she’d fallen down or harmed herself,’ she added.
‘She was continually banging into objects, so I made an appointment with a doctor.’
The mother, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, was sure at the time that her daughter had dyspraxia, a co-ordination problem that impairs a child’s physical co-ordination and causes them to seem clumsy.
When the six-year-old went to the doctor, the doctor ordered the family immediately to the hospital, which was the first hint that something more severe was going on.
Gary, Chloe’s spouse, called it “every parent’s worst fear.” (Image courtesy of PA Real Life)
‘We were then visited by a consultant at the hospital, who said he would suggest Evie be scheduled for an MRI scan,’ Chloe recalled.
‘The scan was set for March 2021, and there was chatter that she could have dyspraxia, so I wasn’t too concerned.’
‘I was knocked for six when the news came through after the MRI findings that there was indeed a tumor on her brain.’
‘It’s every parent’s worst fear,’ Chloe added, referring to her 27-year-old husband Gary Hale, who is presently on sick leave from work. Since she was a child, Evie-Mai has been clumsy, but I never realized it might be due to anything so severe.’
Evie-Mai was diagnosed with a low-grade cystic pineal tumor, which is a benign brain tumor, according to cancer charity Macmillan. It begins in or around the pineal gland, which is located in the center of the brain.
The family was taken aback by the news, but they were happy to learn that the tumor was benign.
Making Legos was a lot of fun. Eve-Mai is at the hospital (Picture: PA Real Life)
‘It was awful, and because of the nature of it all, it was really difficult to be optimistic,’ Chloe added. ‘As a parent, the possibility for what may go wrong is much beyond what we can understand.
‘We were relieved to learn that the tumor was not malignant, but we realized we still had a long way to go.’
Doctors first kept an eye on the tumor before scheduling Evie for surgery.
Then, on September 28, 2021, Evie-Mai underwent a 10-hour procedure to remove the tumour from her brain at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
‘It had been a long, tense day of pacing around the waiting room, waiting to hear how she was doing,’ Chloe said.
‘For the first time since that morning, Gary and I exhaled out when we were informed she was finally out of surgery.’
Additional Information: Health
Surgeons were able to remove percent of the tumor by making an incision near the base of Evie-neck, Mai’s which meant she didn’t have to cut much of her hair.
‘The doctors were unable to remove the remaining 5%,’ Chloe said. ‘As a result, experts are now determining whether Evie may need more surgery in the future.’
But, for the time being, physicians are pleased with the outcomes, according to Chloe.
‘Seeing my baby wake up in the hospital bed made me want to weep,’ she added. She’s a fierce little warrior. We had brought her some Lego to keep her occupied while she was in the hospital, but once she saw it, we couldn’t get her to sleep.
‘All she wanted to do was put together her Lego set.’ I’d convince her to take a sleep, then leave the room only to return to discover that she’d enlisted the services of a student nurse to help her create additional Lego creations.’
In November, Chloe and Evie-Mai made 100 star jumps every day to raise money for brain tumor research (Picture: PA Real Life)
Evie-Mai was so strong that she was released from the hospital just four days after her surgery. Chloe has expressed gratitude to her ‘happy stars’ that her daughter is improving.
Since then, the six-year-old has been healing at home and has even joined her mother in completing daily star jumps to raise money for Brain Tumour Research throughout November.
‘Doing 100 star jumps a day to raise money for the charity has been a lot of fun, even though I can hardly walk now that the month is over!’ Chloe remarked.
‘After all we’ve gone through, it’s nice to come out on the other side with something positive.’
‘We owe Brain Tumour Research a huge debt of gratitude for their help; it has meant the world to our family.’
More: Way of Life
Brain tumors kill more children and people under the age of 40 than any other cancer, although just 1% of national cancer research funding has been dedicated to this deadly illness in the past.
In order to enhance survival rates and patient outcomes, Brain Tumour Research is now proposing for a national yearly budget of £35 million, similar to what has been proposed for other malignancies such as breast cancer and leukemia. The nonprofit is also advocating for further medicine repurposing.
Visit www.braintumourresearch.org for additional details.
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