Headache, nausea & seizures: 6 warning signs of child brain cancer

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

The couple (hailing from England) noticed that their little son, Zack was suffering some “wobbling eye”, meaning it moved oddly. When this quirk didn’t seem to go away, the couple Miriam and Colin, paid a visit to the doctor. After some MRI scans, the parents got the worst news of their lives — their 14-month-old baby boy was suffering from optic nerve glioma, a rare brain tumour that occurs in or around the optic nerve that connects the eyes to the brain. The tumour was biopsied and was found to have a mutation called BRAF — V600E, which activates the MAPK signaling pathway- leading to the rapid growth of cancerous cells and metastasis (spread of cancer throughout the body). Little Zack had to undergo many rounds of chemotherapy to stall the growth of the tumour. Although the tumour remained stable for some months, it relapsed again. Zack, then, was given a dose of Dabrafenib, an anti-cancer drug that is used to treat patients with BRAF mutation. Zac, who is 11 now, will remain on the drug till he is a teenager. “Every day we feel blessed to have been given this life-changing treatment option. It has given Zac the chance to live a relatively normal life,” Miriam told the South West News Service. According to John Hopkins Medicine, here are some pediatric brain cancer symptoms you should never ignore:

Children with brain tumours may often complain of a headache, one which gets worse in the morning.

While nausea and throwing up can also be caused by more benign/common causes like getting the flu, nausea that doesn’t seem to go away even after medications can be a red flag. As the tumour creates pressure on the brain, it can cause the person to feel sick.

Excessive