A mum has spoken of her whirlwind nightmare after doctors asked her a simple question about her baby boy - which led to him being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Jess Shears was asked by medics if her son's head had "always been big", which prompted them to send the youngster for an initial scan in October last year, Teesside Live reports.
Heartbreakingly, the CT revealed baby Albie Shears had a 6cm tumour in his brain, with him and his parents rushed to Newcastle Royal Infirmary by ambulance less than an hour after the shock diagnosis.
The 31-year-old mum, of Middleton St George, Darlington, said: "There's a family history of bowel conditions so when he became very poorly, that's what we thought would be the cause.
The 31-year-old, of Middleton St George, Darlington, said: "There's a family history of bowel conditions so when he became very poorly, that's what we thought would be the cause.
"We never imagined he would be diagnosed with a brain tumour, and to find out it was so severe was awful.
"Within the hour of finding out we were in an ambulance being rushed to the RVI."
Jess and Albie's dad Sam Turbitt, 33, first noticed something wasn't right with their little one in July, last year.
Always a lively baby, Albie had began crawling at six months old but he started to become less active having never fully recovered from a bout of gastroenteritis.
His devoted parents began to notice that Albie was losing a lot of weight and was becoming ill more regularly.
After being sick throughout the night, Albie was seen by the family GP on October 5, last year, who sent them straight to Darlington Memorial Hospital.
His heart rate was slowing and he was sent for an urgent CT scan which revealed the cause of his illness - a choroid plexus brain tumour.
Jess said: "The consultant said: 'Has his head always been big?', which we had never been asked before.
"The scan revealed a 6cm tumour on his brain, so he was transferred to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
"I was in total shock. That night was a whirlwind. Albie had a drain inserted to remove excess fluid."
As much of Albie's tumour was attached to blood vessels, a specialist team from Great Ormond Street Hospital travelled to Newcastle to embolize the tumour prior to the main operation.
The procedure, which took place nine days after his diagnosis, was a success despite Albie suffering some seizures and losing the use of his left-hand side – which intensive physio has helped him to recover.
Just a few months on and Albie is now walking and an MRI scan at the end of January will show whether or not all of the tumour has been removed.
Jess said: "Albie is doing great at the minute.
"He's such an active baby and he's always on the move. He's so happy and he's such a sociable child, you wouldn't think he was a lockdown baby."
Following her son's diagnosis, Jess is stepping up to raise money for Brain Tumour Research by taking part in the charity's 10,000 Steps a Day in February Challenge.
The charity funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK and campaigns for the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments and, ultimately, find a cure.
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease, Brain Tumour Research reports.
The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.
Jess said: "It's so important for me to raise money for Brain Tumour Research so that more can be known about the tumours and their causes.
"I want to help fund research into pioneering treatments like the embolising of the tumour Albie had prior to its removal, which ultimately saved his life."
To donate to Jess' 10,000 Steps a Day fundraiser go to visit this link, or learn more about the challenge and how to get involved here.
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