The parents of a toddler from South Wales were left ‘gobsmacked’ after their daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour, following symptoms initially thought to be separation anxiety.
Two-year-old Megan Evans, from Cardiff, is being treated for a low-grade glioma, which was discovered in December 2020. Her shock diagnosis came after she suffered two seizures, the first of which was on her first day at nursery. Her mum Laura Kilby-Philips, 36, and dad Rhys Evans, 38, are working with the charity Brain Tumour Research to help raise awareness of the disease this Brain Tumour Awareness Month.
Laura, a 36-year-old production manager at BBC Wales, said: “On 6 July 2020, we dropped Meg off for her first day at day care and were pleased she was happy to go in. However, just 30 minutes later, I got a call from the nursery manager to say Meg had had a seizure. It was such a shock.”
Meg and Laura were taken to the University of Wales Hospital by ambulance. Rhys couldn’t go with them, due to the coronavirus restrictions. Meg was checked over by a doctor, who said the seizure may have been caused by the distress of being left in childcare for the first time.
Laura said: “I could see why he may have come to that conclusion, but I had a feeling that there was something more serious going on. I am a worrier. My head will always go to the worst-case scenario. But after that day in July, Meg seemed to recover well, so we hoped it had just been a one-off. She went back to being the happy little girl we knew and loved, always smiling and playing with her big sister, Mollie.”
On 14 December 2020, however, Meg had another seizure, this time at their home in the Fairwater area of the city. An ambulance was called and she was taken to A&E, where doctors carried out tests, including an ECG.
Laura said: “All her test results came back fine and we were discharged with an information sheet about epilepsy and told we would hear from an epilepsy consultant. But I still had a niggling feeling that it was something else.”
On 29 December, Laura and Rhys noticed more, unusual symptoms in Meg. She was crying a lot and seemed unable to focus. Her concerned parents took her to the GP, who encouraged them to go back to hospital. They took her advice and the following morning, Meg was given a CT scan, which revealed an ‘abnormality’ in her left temporal lobe.
Laura said: “I immediately suspected it was a brain tumour but they were not the words they used. The next step was a more detailed MRI scan, which Meg had on New Year’s Day. We received the results quickly and when the consultant paediatric neurologist delivered them, she said it looked like a slow-growing brain tumour. She sounded very positive. She said it was in the ‘best possible place’ for surgery.”
A few days later, however, Laura and Rhys were told their ‘expectations need to be re-adjusted’. Due to its diffuse nature, the tumour was, in actual fact, inoperable. A biopsy was performed and samples of the tumour were sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The pathology report graded it as 1 to 2 (low grade) but Meg would need 18 months of chemotherapy to treat the tumour, beginning in February 2021.
Laura said: “We were gobsmacked. It felt like such a long road ahead of us. Meg began her treatment with a 10-week intensive course of chemo, during which her hair fell out, and she became quite poorly and lost a lot of weight. It was a really tough time. The second course involved four-week cycles and the last course, which she is on now, is a six-week week cycle – three weeks on, three weeks off.”
Meg has an MRI scan every three months and so far, all the results have come back as ‘stable’.
Laura said: “Another positive to have come out of all of this is that in May, Rhys and I got married. We’ve been together for 15 years, having met at BBC Wales in Cardiff, where we both work. We decided that tying the knot would really cement our family together, so we arranged the wedding quickly and invited our closest relatives and a couple of friends to celebrate with us. The girls were bridesmaids and had the best time. Instead of gifts, we asked our guests to make a donation in honour of Meg. We split the funds between Latch Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity and Brain Tumour Research.”
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.
Mel Tiley, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re so sorry to hear about Meg’s shock diagnosis and wish her all the very best for her treatment, which is due to finish in August. Meg’s story and reminds us of the indiscriminate nature of this awful disease. We thank Laura and Rhys sincerely for choosing to support our charity; their generous wedding donations will fund vital research and help get us closer to finding a cure.”
