A Scots mum who thought her ten-year-old was just being "clumsy" was shocked to discover she had a cancerous tumour in her brain.
Jackie Nelson, 35, from Kilwinning, said she wasn't overly worried about daughter Ava her daughter started complaining about headaches and said she was feeling constantly sick and dizzy. Jackie took Ava to a GP, who brushed her illness off as a viral infection, telling the pair it would soon go away.
After three more visits to the GP, Ava was finally referred to the children's assessment ward at Cross House Hospita l near Kilmarnock. Last month, she was diagnosed with a high grade glioblastoma brain tumour after an MRI scan.
Jackie, a carer from Kilwinning, said: "It seemed she was just being clumsy at home, until she started to complain about feeling sick and dizzy all the time. Something in my heart knew she wasn't right, and if I'd have listened to the doctors at the start Ava wouldn't still be with us."
Following her diagnosis, Ava was taken straight to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow in an ambulance and booked in for brain surgery the very next morning. Surgeons had to relieve the pressure which was building as a result of the tumour before it damaged her brain.
The operation went well, and she was immediately referred for her first rounds of chemo and daily radiotherapy. She has been staying at Marion House, free accommodation run by charity Young Lives vs Cancer, opposite the hospital for the past seven weeks, with her mum.
Ava's radiotherapy will conclude on August 5, when doctors will review her progress - and Jackie is praying it will be good news.
Jackie, a mum-of-three said: "The last two months have been a whirlwind and Ava has been so brave through it all. She's having daily radio therapy and taking chemo tablets to try and shrink the tumour.
"We should find out how her radiotherapy has affected the tumour in the next month and we're all praying it will be good news. Ava is the most loving, positive girl and an amazing daughter and I couldn't be prouder of her."
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