Hannah was born in January 2004 and was a healthy and contented baby.
After she turned one I became concerned about her health but there was nothing specific I could identify. However, when she was 21 months old she began waking early screaming in pain and holding her head – ‘attention seeking’ we were told. Things slowly deteriorated from there; she became very tired, was frequently sick, her balance became unsteady and her gait changed Then began the seizures which really panicked us. Unfortunately our GP still assured us it was ‘nothing serious’.
Unconvinced, in February 2006 we filmed three seizures and then we rushed her to A & E. They knew instantly something was wrong and she was admitted. The next day a CT scan confirmed the presence of a large brain tumour and build-up of fluid – both life-threatening. On 14th February she was taken to surgery to remove the tumour. We were told it was a Grade I Astrocytoma and after further treatment she slowly began to recover. Within a month we were able to take her home and once there, in familiar surroundings and with the help of nasal-gastric feeding she improved dramatically and every week she became more and more like our little Hannah again.
In November last year she had another MRI scan which showed that the tumour had been completely removed and that her outlook was very good.
Hannah is now a very bubbly, confident and demanding three-year old who can’t wait to start nursery after the summer. As parents we will always worry about her health but we count ourselves truly blessed, that with the help of wonderful medical and nursing staff and the support of everyone we still have our wonderful little girl.
