It all starts in September 2023. At the time, Olivia is a smiling 5-year-old granddaughter. While enjoying recess at school, the young girl suffered a heavy fall in the playground and hit her head. A few days later, the first worrying symptoms appeared: the child walked “like a drunk person”, in the words of his mother, Marietta.
“When she woke up at night, she had to hold the wall to reach me,” the mother confides. “Obviously she’s four – so I knew she wasn’t drunk. »
“Don’t worry”
Worried, Marietta decides to take her child to the doctor. “They thought it was a urinary tract infection or a stomach illness because she started vomiting a lot,” Marietta told Daily Mirror reporters. “Sometimes they sent her home with antibiotics, but most of the time they just told me not to worry. »
Despite the mother’s requests, the doctors refuse to give little Olivia a scan. A few later, a new worrying symptom: Olivia’s face sags on one side.
Chemotherapy every 6 months
Marietta takes Olivia to the emergency room and this time, the little girl has a scan. A few hours later the verdict came: a tumor was spotted at the back of the brain.
On December 29, a few days after Christmas, doctors managed to remove part of the tumor, after a 7-hour operation.
Since then, the granddaughter has been undergoing chemotherapy which will not end until August next year. The doctors are optimistic for the young girl even though her tumor has already shrunk significantly.
However, Olivia will have to undergo chemotherapy every six months until the age of nine, as well as MRI scans every year until the age of 16.
“She will be able to live a normal life one day,” Marietta concludes. “But we’re cautious – if it starts getting bigger, we’ll have to start all over again.
