AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD girl was diagnosed with a brain tumour after becoming clumsy.

Katie Paterson got the shock diagnosis just before Christmas of a medulloblastoma.

She had suffered “excruciating” back pain and sickness and was putting her arms out to navigate while she walked.

Brave schoolgirl Katie will have chemo until this Christmas to treat the tumour and the family, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, are still shielding.

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Glasgow Times:

Mum Elaine, 39, said: “Towards the end of November, Katie started being sick and was really lethargic.

“Her symptoms got worse and she started suffering with excruciating pain in her back.

“We called the out-of-hours doctor and Katie provided a urine sample, which showed there was an infection, so she was given antibiotics.

“When she stood up, she would hesitate before walking.

“She was putting her arms out to the side to navigate and she was becoming really clumsy.

“When I asked her if she felt dizzy, she said: ‘it’s all black around the sides.”

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On December 14, Katie went to see a paediatrician at Wishaw General Hospital in North Lanarkshire.

A CT scan revealed a large tumour at the back of her head which had blocked the flow of brain fluid, causing hydrocephalus.

She had to be blue-lighted to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and the following day had emergency surgery to insert an external ventricular drain (EVD) to relieve the pressure in her head.

On December 18 Katie had a craniotomy to debulk the tumour – but although it was removed, on Christmas Eve the family were given the devastating news it would not be enough.

Deputy head teacher Elaine said: “I felt complete numbness.

“The fear that came over me was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It was like I was living somebody else’s life.

“Thankfully, the team looking after Katie was magnificent.

“They had to have some really difficult conversations with us but they were professional and compassionate.”

On December 30 Katie was discharged from hospital but told she would need up to a year of cancer treatment.

She began a six-week course of radiotherapy at The Beatson Cancer Centre on January 18.

Elaine added: ““Other than some hair loss, Katie didn’t suffer too badly from the side effects of radiotherapy.

“She was home every afternoon to do home-schooling. She breezed through it.

“The chemotherapy, however, has been really tough. She started chemo on April 12 and it’s not predicted to finish until Christmas 2021.

“The treatment makes her sick, exhausted and is causing aches and pains all over her body.

“She’s lost her appetite to the point that she now has to be tube-fed.”

Glasgow Times:

Elaine and husband Graham, 42, were warned to be ultra cautious despite covid restrictions lifting.

Elaine said: “We’re still not going to other people’s houses or having people visit us inside the house.

“It’s been really tough for Katie, as she’s so desperate to see family and friends and to be a ‘normal’ eight-year-old girl.

“Family have been doing window visits and she has been attending school and Brownies via Zoom.

“Dealing with this terrible diagnosis and Katie’s treatment during a global pandemic has definitely added to the challenges.

“One day we came back from hospital to find Katie’s friends had left little hand-written notes for her outside the front of the house.

“Every house in our street is displaying a yellow heart in the window; an indication that they are thinking of Katie.

“We’ve been so touched by everyone’s kindness.”