A dad has told how his toddler's temporary loss of sight turned out to be caused by a life-threatening brain tumour.
Rhys Evans and wife Laura Kilby-Phillips, from Fairwater in Cardiff, grew concerned for their then-one-year-old daughter Megan after she experienced two seizures and some balance issues.
Doctors were not able to immediately detect the cause, but then Megan lost her sight one morning for around 30 seconds — and shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with an inoperable 3cm tumour on the left side of her brain.
Read all our Cardiff stories here.
Now almost three, Megan has been going through chemotherapy for more than a year and doctors are optimistic she will live a normal life. Despite her gruelling weekly chemo sessions, her parents say their incredible little girl always bounces back.
Rhys, 38, recalled the first indication something was wrong came in July 2020, when Megan had a seizure at her nursery after it reopened from lockdown.
"We weren't there at the time but the nursery told us it was a convulsive seizure," he said. "Once we went to pick her up she was fine, just tired. We took her to Noah's Ark Children's Hospital and she was discharged the same day."
It was five months before Megan's next seizure, which happened on December 14 as the family were getting ready for the day.
"She was in my wife's arms and out of nowhere she started having a convulsive seizure," said Rhys. "It was terrifying. We called an ambulance and again Meg was discharged after a few hours. I think she was just sleepy and lethargic afterwards.
"She started having a few balance issues. You wouldn't expect a one-year-old to be totally balanced but she was bumping into things and we thought, 'Hmm this doesn't look right.'"
Early on the morning of December 28, Megan started calling out for her parents. When they got to her, they realised she was unable to see them.
"We picked her up and she was shouting out 'daddy'. She was aware I was there but she was kind of freaked out that she couldn't see me. It lasted about 30 seconds, no longer than a minute."
Again Megan seemed to quickly return to normality, but this time the experts were able to identify the underlying issue. An MRI scan on New Year's Day 2021 showed she had a brain tumour.
Megan was diagnosed with a grade one-to-two glioma which could not be removed with surgery because of its position. Instead she was put on an 85-week chemotherapy treatment.
"The tumour won't shrink, it won't go away, but the hope is that it will 'switch off'," said Rhys. "It will still be there but it won't be growing. They'll monitor it for at least 10 years. Hopefully the chemotherapy will finish in august."
Megan's chemo is mostly administered at home, with a nurse visiting once a week. Medication has kept her free of seizures since her diagnosis and she has been incredibly resilient, said Rhys.
"She's lost all her hair and her appetite is really off," he added. "You think you've got a winner, something she'll eat, and then it changes. She's prone to infections so even if she gets a cold she goes into hospital for two or three days.
"Meg always bounces back. She kind of hides a lot of it, even though she's only two. She gets on with things and is probably feeling worse than she makes out she is.
"All this has taken place during the pandemic and made an incredibly difficult situation even more agonising for our family, as hospital rules only allow one parent present at all appointments and hospital admissions.
"I think Megan is not quite aware that the chemotherapy is coming to an end in august, but as she gets older she's more aware of what's going on. She knows she has a lump in her head."
Rhys will dress as Megan's favourite teddy, Muppets character Elmo, when he runs Cardiff Half Marathon on March 27 to fundraise for LATCH. He said the children's cancer charity has given "immeasurable" support during Megan's visits to Noah's Ask.
"Meg has always loved her Elmo teddy and never goes anywhere without him," he added. "Elmo has accompanied her on every hospital stay and he's been with her for every chemotherapy session."
Rhys, who will run alongside his brother Gareth, has so far raised £3,300 for LATCH. You can donate here.
To sign up for the CardiffOnline newsletter, click here.
