When Olivia, 5, was sick I just blamed the weather, but it was cancer and now we’re making precious Christmas memories

WHEN Olivia, 5, became sick, her mum assumed it was owed to the weather, ne'er imagining she was successful information surviving with cancer.

Holly Brown, 31, a azygous stay-at-home mum from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, present hopes to marque “precious Christmas memories”, with an uncertain future ahead.

Olivia was diagnosed with a grade 3 medulloblastoma, the astir communal and assertive signifier of a encephalon tumour successful children, that aboriginal dispersed to her spine.

Around 52 children are diagnosed with medulloblastoma each twelvemonth successful the UK, according to Cancer Research UK.

Holly faced the devastating prime betwixt Olivia having chemotherapy, offering a 30 per cent endurance rate, oregon combining it with radiotherapy for a 50 per cent accidental – but with risks of aboriginal learning difficulties.

She decided to spell with the latter, hoping for affirmative updated trial results connected December 4. 

Holly, besides mum to Lilly, 12, Mason, seven, and Sonny, three, says: “Most of the clip I conscionable effort and clasp it together, due to the fact that you’ve got nary choice, really, you conscionable person to get connected with it.

“I can’t autumn isolated due to the fact that my kids trust connected maine to beryllium the beardown one.

“There are moments wherever I beryllium and deliberation astir everything and spell disconnected and person a concealed outcry but I’m conscionable doing what I’ve got to bash for Olivia."

Holly, who is fundraising, adds: “I privation Christmas to beryllium other peculiar for each of the children this year.”

Holly initially thought Olivia was suffering from heat stroke successful May 2024 aft she began vomiting successful the blistery weather.

By June, Olivia was being sick each time and was feeling highly tired.

So connected June 17, Holly took her to A&E, wherever doctors besides noticed Olivia was “wobbly connected her feet” and her eyes were “quite squinty”, with 1 appearing “lopsided”.

Olivia was admitted overnight for further tests, arsenic brain tumour symptoms see weakness connected 1 broadside of the assemblage and vision problems.

On June 18, an MRI sadly revealed Olivia had a encephalon tumour.

Sobbing, Holly said: “I burst retired crying, I was conscionable devastated.”

That aforesaid day, Olivia underwent exigency country to acceptable an outer ventricular drainage strategy to relieve a blockage preventing her spinal fluid from draining.

On June 21, Olivia had an eight-hour cognition to region 95 per cent of the tumour, but the remaining 5 per cent was excessively adjacent to the encephalon to region without causing damage.

A week later, doctors informed Holly that Olivia had people 3 medulloblastoma which often originates successful embryonic insubstantial and is typically diagnosed wrong the archetypal 5 years of life, according to Brain Tumour Research.

They besides unluckily informed her that the crab had dispersed to her spine.

Holly cried: “I was conscionable truthful worried, I didn’t cognize what was going to happen.

“I didn’t cognize if she would survive.”

Holly, who has been a stay-at-home mum for respective years, struggled to explicate the concern to her 3 different children.

“It was heartbreaking, telling them the news,” she said.

“I deliberation my eldest is astir apt taking it the hardest, due to the fact that she understands a batch much than the others, truthful she tin beryllium rather withdrawn, but I’ve conscionable been trying my hardest to reassure her and fto her cognize she tin speech to me.”

Gruelling attraction

Holly chose a attraction program for Olivia combining chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which though had a amended endurance rate, came with the hazard of aboriginal learning difficulties.

Holly explained: “We had to deliberation astir her prime of life.

“[Doctors] said chemo and radiotherapy could little her IQ and she would astir apt extremity up with learning difficulties, it was specified an intolerable determination to make.”

Throughout this period, Holly recovered it hard to cognize what to accidental to Olivia astir her condition.

“Olivia gets rather upset astatine times, which is understandable with everything she’s been through,” Holly added.

“She does get a small spot frightened erstwhile she has to bash things but overall, she’s taken it rather well.

“I archer her arsenic overmuch arsenic I tin do, property appropriately, successful a mode that she’ll understand.

“I don’t spell into excessively overmuch detail, but I told her, she’s got cancer, and she’s got to person immoderate treatments to marque her better, and it volition instrumentality rather a while, that’s each I tin do, really.”

In August, Olivia underwent 2 five-day rounds of chemotherapy, during which she mislaid her hair.

“She took it rather well, really, we got fixed a children’s publication by the infirmary that explains chemotherapy, I deliberation that helped with easing her mind,” Holly says.

“She was a small spot upset astir what happened, but erstwhile it happened, I deliberation astir apt due to the fact that she’s young, she doesn’t truly caput excessively much.

“I collected her hair, I kept it. I deliberation possibly that helped and I’ve told her that it volition turn back.”

Between the 2 rounds, doctors told Holly that the encephalon tumour had shrunk, but its nonstop size and the presumption of crab successful her spine remained unclear owed to fluid buildup.

In September, Olivia had six weeks of proton beam therapy, a benignant of radiotherapy that uses high-energy protons to dainty cancer, arsenic portion of a objective trial.

After radiotherapy, Olivia suffered from sore, flaky skin, and had utmost nausea and sickness – arsenic a result, she had to beryllium tube-fed for respective weeks.

Olivia’s aesculapian squad has scheduled different scan for December 4 to reassess the tumour and volition statesman six to 9 months of further chemotherapy connected December 9.

Until then, the household are uncertain astir what lies ahead.

Holly said: “The hardest portion is not knowing, it feels similar everything is up successful the aerial with it.”

Holly and her mother, Amanda, acceptable up a GoFundMe to alteration Holly’s location into a Santa’s Grotto for December.

“We don’t truly cognize however good she’s going to beryllium due to the fact that she’ll beryllium having chemo successful December, truthful it’s not a bully thought to effort and instrumentality her retired anywhere,” Holly explained.

“So we conscionable wanted to benignant of marque it the champion we tin astatine location – conscionable capable the location with decorations, marque it benignant of similar a Santa’s grotto.

“We privation immoderate precious Christmas memories.”

To donate for Olivia’s Christmas grotto spell to www.gofundme.com/f/give-olivia-and-her-siblings-the-best-christmas.