A mom has told how she spotted her daughter’s brain cancer before doctors did after noticing several subtle symptoms.
Catherine Owens, 29, from Louisiana, kept noticing that her two-year-old Gracelyn Stiffler felt extremely tired and she also suffered from severe headaches.
However, the mom-of-two said that doctors kept on dismissing the symptoms as a ‘crick in the neck’ and they said that there was nothing wrong with her.
On one occasion, she even visited the emergency room when Gracelyn threw up, in fear that it could be a concussion.
But again, the mom-of-three was sent home and told there was nothing to worry about and it was likely ‘seasonal allergies’.
After the symptoms worsened and Gracelyn started having accidents despite being potty trained, Ms Owens returned to ER and demanded a CT scan.
On further investigation, the medics detected two masses on Gracelyn’s brain which they initially diagnosed as fluid-filled sacs.
To get clarity on the matter, the toddler was transferred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for an MRI.
Catherine Owens, 29, from Louisiana, kept noticing that her two-year-old Gracelyn Stiffler (pictured) felt extremely tired and she also suffered from severe headaches
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More detailed scans revealed that tot actually had a brain tumor which required emergency surgery.
Ms Owens says her world changed in one day, as the source of Gracelyn’s constant fatigue finally came to light.
‘I knew it was something serious but I didn’t know it was a brain tumor,’ Ms Owens told Today.com.
Gracelyn had a grade two ependymoma, which is the third most common type of brain tumor in children.
Ependymomas can be benign or cancerous and Gracelyn’s doctors said hers was ‘as close as it can be to cancerous.’
Around 250 children are affected by ependymomas in the US each year.
They are diagnosed most often in children aged eight and younger with the symptoms including headaches, nausea, fatigue, irritability, balance problems and seizures.
Surgery is typically recommended as the first-line treatment, except when the tumor is too large to be removed.
Ms Owens says her world changed in one day, as the source of Gracelyn’s constant fatigue finally came to light and it was found she had a brain tumor
Gracelyn underwent a nine-hour surgery in December 2023, where doctors removed as much of the tumor as they could
In those cases, a patient may receive chemotherapy to shrink the tumor, followed by its surgical removal.
About 79 percent of people diagnosed with ependymoma live for five years or longer.
Patients tend to have better outcomes when doctors are able to remove all or most of the tumor surgically.
Gracelyn underwent a nine-hour surgery in December 2023, where doctors removed as much of the tumor as they could.
Ms Owens said: ‘It was intense. They were confident that they had gotten [the tumor] all out.’
However, following the surgery, doctors found that there was still some of the mass remaining.
They decided a combination of more surgery and radiation therapy would be the best way of destroying any remaining cancer cells.
In December 2023, Gracelyn started more than two dozen rounds of radiation and she stayed at St. Jude until February 2024.
About 79 percent of people diagnosed with ependymoma live for five years or longer
Gracelyn is back home and doesn’t need additional treatments, only regular check-ups
Ms Owens continues to share her story on social media to encourage parents to ‘always trust your mom gut’
In surgery, there were some minor complications.
A scratch and possible nerve damage led to a loss of vision in one eye, while it also left her deaf in the right ear.
It is not known if the damage to her vision and hearing will be permanent.
And more recently, Gracelyn had to have another surgery after Ms Owen noticed a lump on her head and realized one of the screws from her operation was lifting up under the skin.
But for now, Gracelyn is back home and doesn’t need additional treatments, only regular check-ups.
Dr Nir Shimony, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Semmes Murphey in Memphis and one of Gracelyn’s doctors, applauds Ms Owen for pushing for a correct diagnosis and listening to her gut.
However, he also encourages parents to exercise caution in assuming that a child’s headache means they have a brain tumor.
The medic explains: ‘Kids can have headaches for many reasons.
‘Should we do a head scan for every kid with a headache? That’s dangerous. That’s a lot of head scans.’
‘If the headache has no other reasons or there are other signs or symptoms – and especially if the headaches are something that is ongoing – it’s best to have a scan of the head, preferably an MRI, to rule out bad things.’
Ms Owens continues to share her story on social media to encourage parents to ‘always trust your mom gut.’
She says: ‘I knew something was seriously wrong with Gracelyn, my mom gut.
‘I want everyone to know I’m on their side and I’m rooting for them.’
