A mum who suffered pins and needles in her arms and legs has been diagnosed with rare form of brain cancer.
Katie Flynn was given the bleak news in December 2021 after being unwell for several weeks..
Last year started suffering from a variety of symptoms including fatigue and pins and needles in her limbs
Despite trips to hospitals and a succession of scans, doctors struggled to identify the condition.
But just before Christmas the 34-year-old from Bootle, Merseyside, was diagnosed with a tumour in the primary central nervous system (Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT)
They start in the brain or spinal cord are classed as grade IV tumours, which are malignant and fast growing.
Katie sought advice from specialists in London and Alder Hey, Liverpool, as hers was the first adult case of an ATRT they had ever seen.
Nicola Bailey, a family friend, told the Liverpool Echo: "My sister and I were talking today and we said that you have far more chance of winning the lottery than being diagnosed with this - especially as an adult.
"There are 7.8 billion people in the world and 58 of them are diagnosed with it, two of them are adults and she’s one of them."
Since the diagnosis, Katie, who works at Aintree Hospital, has been out of work and has required round the clock care.
Nicola added: "Friends and family are having to rally around them and the kids. Her partner is a taxi driver, but she’s needing 24 hour care when she’s out of the hospital.
"It’s been quite rapid really. She’s lost a lot of her ability to walk or do simple tasks independently, so as her partner is self-employed and she’s out of work.
"He’s had to take time off work and obviously family are looking out for her as well, so if they’re both not working, it’s just become a bit of a struggle."
The tumour is incredibly rare among adults - the charity Brain Tumour Research says, of the approximately 58 people diagnosed globally per year, only two are likely to be in adults over 16 years old.
It has taken a toll on Katie's children - Daisy, 9, and Alfie, 8, but Nicola said that they have been incredibly resilient.
"She’s changing and she’s trying to keep everything normal for her kids but they can see differences in her. She’s trying to keep everything the same, she wants them in a routine", Nicola said.
"She’s still not lost her sense of humour - we’ve still been laughing every single day. People look for humour in a time like this, it’s the only way you can make things just about bearable."
Due to the rarity of ATRTs, Katie's prognosis is not clear, but she faces an operation this week which could prove pivotal.
Katie will undergo a 10 hour operation, with the aim of removing approximately 90% of the tumour.
Nicola said: "They’ve said that they’ll try to remove over 90% of the tumour and then she’s going to have chemotherapy, radiotherapy and then they’ll go from there.
"But because it’s such a rapidly growing tumour, nobody knows what way it’s going to go until she’s recovered and they can go forward with other treatment.
"We still don’t know - they couldn’t give her a prognosis because they’ve never treated this tumour before, they have no other case to go off.
"She’s the first adult at the Walton Centre to be treated with this kind of tumour, so she’s kind of paving the way."
Nicola is running a GoFundMe page in order to support Katie and her family and to fund a trip away when she feels better.
