{"id":8994,"date":"2025-11-29T11:25:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T12:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=8994"},"modified":"2025-12-03T21:33:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T21:33:48","slug":"doctors-said-our-toddler-had-tonsillitis-she-needed-emergency-brain-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/29\/doctors-said-our-toddler-had-tonsillitis-she-needed-emergency-brain-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors said our toddler had tonsillitis \u2014 she needed emergency brain surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Harper’s parents knew something was seriously wrong (Picture: Jam Press\/@hope.4.harper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In July this year, two-year-old Harper Gibson’s parents noticed that the toddler was a little more tired than usual and could tell that their little girl wasn’t ‘quite herself’.<\/p>\n

‘It was tiny things that, at first, didn’t seem like much,’ her father, George, explains. ‘We made several trips to the GP and A&E, each time being told it was tonsillitis<\/a> or an ear infection<\/a>.’<\/p>\n

Although Harper was prescribed antibiotics, they did nothing to help – and, as time went on, her worried mum and dad couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong.<\/p>\n

‘Every visit ended the same way – reassurances that she’d be fine,’ George adds. ‘But inside, we both knew something wasn’t right.’<\/p>\n

Just a month later, the family received the devastating news that Harper actaully had medulloblastoma<\/a>, the second most common brain tumour<\/a> in children, which is potentially life-threatening and sees 52 diagnoses each year. <\/p>\n

Her mother Laura, and dad George, from Staffordshire, only managed to the root of their daughter’s condition after a friend suggested a routine eye-test after noticing Harper had a lazy eye, so they took her to their local optician.<\/p>\n

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Harper has been positive throughout her whole cancer journey (Picture: Jam Press\/@hope.4.harper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘It’s that instinct parents have; you know your child better than anyone, and we could feel something deeper was wrong,’ George says. ‘The Specsavers team in Safford were incredible.<\/p>\n

‘They were calm but serious, and when the optician stopped the test halfway through and explained that something didn’t look right, everything changed.’<\/p>\n

Within minutes, they were referred to a local hospital, where scans found a 1.5 square-inch mass on Harper’s brain, with a large amount of fluid at the front.<\/p>\n

The litttle girl was quickly transferred to Birmingham<\/a> Children’s Hospital for specialist treatment, and within two days of the eye test, on 14 August, she was undergoing brain surgery to remove the tumour and find out whether it was cancerous or benign.<\/p>\n

‘Waiting through that surgery felt like a lifetime. You sit there as a parent, knowing there’s absolutely nothing you can do but hope,’ recalls George.<\/p>\n

While the operation was a success, just a week later the family were back in the hospital nervously waiting for the results. ‘We heard the words that will stay with us forever: the tumour was cancerous,’ George recalls. ‘No parent is ever prepared for that moment.<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DReG0VpjflN\/?img_index=4<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

‘It’s a kind of pain that rips through you in silence. You want to scream, cry, do anything to take it away from them, but you can’t.<\/p>\n

‘That night, we both remember feeling like the world had stopped. Everything that used to matter suddenly meant nothing.’<\/p>\n

Within days Harper, now three, had begun chemotherapy<\/a> treatment with the oncology team, but her parents admit it has been hard to watch their little girl go through so much.<\/p>\n

‘Before all of this, Harper was full of energy and mischief, a proper little character,’ says George. ‘She loves her doggy BearBear, dancing around the living room, and running circles around us.<\/p>\n

‘She was the kind of child who made everyone around her smile. To see that light fade, and to see her hooked up to machines and unable to play, is breaking us.<\/p>\n

‘You spend your life protecting your child from harm, then suddenly you’re powerless, watching them go through something no one should have to face.’<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tMedulloblastoma\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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Medulloblastoma is the second most common brain tumour in children. It\u2019s the most common malignant (high grade) children\u2019s brain tumour.<\/p>\n

It develops at the back of the brain and is more likely to grow quickly, as well as spread to other areas of the brain and spinal chord.<\/p>\n

Your child might have symptoms for a few weeks or months before they are diagnosed with medulloblastoma. Many symptoms are general and non specific. Some are similar to less serious childhood illnesses. Symptoms might include:<\/p>\n