A baby's brain tumour was only diagnosed after her mum noticed her head growing at a rapid rate.
Corinne Wardle, a nurse, began to notice some odd changes when her daughter Molly Wardle-Hampton was just 12 weeks old. She spent months documenting Molly's symptoms - with the growth in the soft spots of her head among the most noticeable.
Corinne, 38, also noted a fixed eye gaze, a tilt to one side of her head and patterns of vomiting. Worried her daughter's head was measuring "off the charts", the mum-of-three took in her for tests - where it was revealed she had an ependymoma tumour on her brain.
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Luckily the tumour was caught in time and Molly had surgery for it to be removed - and her most recent MRI scan shows no new growth. But Corinne said doctors had warned if treatment had been delayed by just one or two days she may not have survived.
Corrine, who is also mum to Leah, 12 and Kacey, 11, said: "For the first few months of her life, Molly couldn’t be put down and would cry every time – as if she were in pain.
"Looking back, this was one of the symptoms which pieced everything together. I tried different things to eliminate conditions common with newborns.
"It was both her eyes deviating outwards and her head measuring off the charts which meant she had a CT scan. That was when I was given the worst news you could ever hear as a parent.”
Scans showed the tumour covered almost the entirety of the right side of Molly’s brain. She was then blue-lighted to Alder Hey Hospital where she had emergency surgery.
Corinne, from Flint, North Wales, said: “I felt a huge relief when I was told the mass was removed. Molly had to spend time in the intensive care and the high dependency due to how much blood she lost during the procedure."
But Corrine quickly noticed the difference in Molly's behaviour - suggesting the surgery had been a success. She said: "For the first time in her life, Molly laid on her back, staring out of the window, babbling.
"I was overcome with emotion as for the last three months she couldn’t be put down. It was amazing to see. Especially after being told, had we waited any longer, that would have likely been the last day of her life.”
This month, Molly is due to finish her year-long clinical trial treatment. MRI scan results on January 3 2023 came back clear, with no further growth of Molly’s tumour.
However, treatment has left Molly with life-changing injuries and she now needs hearing aids. Her mum is now campaigning with the charity Brain Tumour Research to raise awareness and support their mission to increase investment into research.
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