When two-year-old Megan Evans suffered a seizure on her very first day in nursery, doctors initially thought it may have been caused by separation anxiety.
But her parents had a feeling something was more seriously wrong, and their suspicions were proved right six months later when their daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
It was the start of a long and arduous journey for the toddler who needed many rounds of chemotherapy and several scans to assess whether the mass had reduced in size.
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"On July 6, 2020, we dropped Meg off for her first day at day care and were pleased she was happy to go in," recalled mum Laura Kilby-Philips, 36, from Cardiff .
"However, just 30 minutes later I got a call from the nursery manager to say Meg had had a seizure. It was such a shock."
Megan and Laura were taken to the University of Wales Hospital (UHW) in Cardiff by ambulance. However, dad Rhys Evans couldn't go with them due to the Covid restrictions at the time.
The toddler was checked over by a doctor who said the seizure may have been caused by the distress of being left in childcare for the first time.
Laura, a production manager at BBC Wales, said: "I could see why he may have come to that conclusion, but I had a feeling that there was something more serious going on.
"I am a worrier. My head will always go to the worst-case scenario. But after that day in July, Meg seemed to recover well, so we hoped it had just been a one-off. She went back to being the happy little girl we knew and loved, always smiling and playing with her big sister, Mollie."
But on December 14, 2020, Megan had another seizure, this time at their home in the Fairwater area of the city. An ambulance was called and she was taken to A&E where doctors carried out tests, including an ECG.
Laura said: "All her test results came back fine and we were discharged with an information sheet about epilepsy and told we would hear from an epilepsy consultant. But I still had a niggling feeling that it was something else."
On December 29, 2020, Laura and Rhys noticed more unusual symptoms in Megan. She was crying a lot and seemed unable to focus. Her concerned parents took her to the GP who encouraged them to go back to hospital once again.
They took her advice and the following morning, Megan was given a CT scan which revealed an "abnormality" in her left temporal lobe.
Laura said: "I immediately suspected it was a brain tumour but they were not the words they used. The next step was a more detailed MRI scan which Meg had on New Year's Day. We received the results quickly and when the consultant paediatric neurologist delivered them, she said it looked like a slow-growing brain tumour. She sounded very positive. She said it was in the 'best possible place' for surgery."
A few days later, however, Laura and Rhys were told their "expectations needed to be re-adjusted". Due to its diffuse nature the glioma tumour was, in fact, inoperable.
A biopsy was performed and samples of the tumour were sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The pathology report graded it as one to two (low grade) but Megan would need 18 months of chemotherapy to treat the tumour beginning in February 2021.
Laura added: "We were gobsmacked. It felt like such a long road ahead of us. Meg began her treatment with a 10-week intensive course of chemo, during which her hair fell out, and she became quite poorly and lost a lot of weight. It was a really tough time. The second course involved four-week cycles and the last course, which she is on now, is a six-week week cycle - three weeks on, three weeks off."
Megan has an MRI scan every three months and so far all the results have come back as 'stable'.
"Another positive to have come out of all of this is that in May, Rhys and I got married. We've been together for 15 years having met at BBC Wales in Cardiff where we both work," Laura said.
"We decided that tying the knot would really cement our family together, so we arranged the wedding quickly and invited our closest relatives and a couple of friends to celebrate with us.
"The girls were bridesmaids and had the best time. Instead of gifts, we asked our guests to make a donation in honour of Meg. We split the funds between Latch Welsh Children's Cancer Charity and Brain Tumour Research."
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.
Mel Tiley, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: "We’re so sorry to hear about Meg’s shock diagnosis and wish her all the very best for her treatment, which is due to finish in August.
"Meg’s story and reminds us of the indiscriminate nature of this awful disease. We thank Laura and Rhys sincerely for choosing to support our charity; their generous wedding donations will fund vital research and help get us closer to finding a cure."
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.
The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35m 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 re-purposing of drugs.
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