Essex family raise awareness of brain tumour symptoms after son survives the disease
He was just seven when diagnosed
The family of a nine-year-old from Essex who was diagnosed with a brain tumour are supporting a new charity campaign to raise awareness of the warning signs of the disease in children and adults.
Noah Wiseman, from Saffron Walden, was just seven years old when he first had symptoms of what would later be diagnosed as an ependymoma brain tumour.
His mum Lucy remembers: "Noah started to have headaches around the end of October in 2019, and he'd never had a headache before then, so we thought that was strange.
"After a couple of weeks, we took him to the doctor, who sent us to A&E. They checked him over and said they thought he was fine, but suggested we have a look at the Brain Tumour Charity's website, which has a list of symptoms.
"They told us we should go straight back if Noah experienced any of the symptoms. One of those symptoms was sickness and he started to be sick in the mornings, alongside the headaches, so we took him straight back. They did a CT scan and found quite a big tumour in the side of his head... they took it out three days later."
Noah is now cancer-free, happy and healthy: "I felt better after they did the operation, because my body started to be strong again instead of being super weak, and I got a lot of my energy back.
"I didn't have any more headaches or blurring in my eyes, and I had no more problems."
His mum Lucy is championing The Brain Tumour Charity’s new “Better Safe than Tumour” campaign which was launched this month.
The campaign aims to support the public – whether adults, children, parents, partners or friends – to be aware of the possible signs and symptoms and to get any concerning or persistent symptoms checked out by a doctor.
Lucy explains why she's supporting the campaign: "The Brain Tumour Charity's checklist helped give me the confidence to go and get Noah investigated sooner rather than later...
"Otherwise, we might not have gone to see the doctor quite so soon. We might have put up with it for longer, which I assume would have meant that the tumour would have grown bigger and done more damage... "If people are more aware of the symptoms, then they are more likely to get things investigated sooner, and if you can get diagnosed sooner then outcomes should be better, and the damage should be less."
Symptoms to look for include persistent or severe headaches which may be worse in the morning, changes to vision including blurs and double vision, tiredness, nausea, speech difficulties and seizures in adults. In children, symptoms may also include balance, co-ordination or walking problems, loss of taste and smell, abnormal head position, regular sickness, especially in the morning and excessive thirst.
While the disease remains relatively rare overall, the number of people being diagnosed with a brain tumour, which is the UK’s leading cancer killer of children and adults under 40, rose from 6,577 in 2001 to 9,960 in 2019.
Dr David Jenkinson is Chief Scientific Officer at The Brain Tumour Charity: "These worrying figures show how urgently we need to act on this. While brain tumours remain relatively rare, incidence has continued to rise significantly over the last two decades, and this has unfortunately not yet been matched by the tangible progress in diagnosis, treatment and survival outcomes seen in many other cancers.
“With over 12,000 people now being diagnosed every year in the UK, and the impacts on diagnosis seen due to the pandemic, renewed action to support more people to recognise the signs and come forward to see an NHS doctor has never been more needed...
“Despite this increase in cases, brain tumours are still uncommon, but it’s so important that we see greater awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease to ensure anyone affected can get the diagnosis, treatment and support they need at the earliest opportunity."
For more information, head to the Brain Tumour Charity's website.