A BRAVE youngster who was diagnosed with a brain tumour aged just seven years old has been praised by her proud mum following her positive outlook as she underwent months of gruelling treatment.

Little Katie Paterson has been through two operations as well as courses of radiotherapy and chemotherapy after the tumour was discovered in December 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Now aged nine, Katie has been described as “being stable” but will need to be monitored every three months.

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Her mum Elaine, 40, spoke to the Glasgow Times during Brain Tumour Awareness Month, which runs throughout March every year.

Elaine, who lives in Airdrie with her husband Graham, said: “Katie was experiencing her symptoms for about three weeks. Initially, for the first week, we weren’t concerned, we just thought she was maybe running about too much and making herself sick.

“The two weeks prior to her diagnosis is when she really started showing signs of lethargy and sickness and complaining about other parts of her body.

“She would be sick sporadically but not as if she had a bug. Katie was being sick first thing in the morning then she would be okay for a few hours then she would be sick before we put her to bed at night.

“We took her to the GP who said she had a urine infection, but her symptoms continued, and she rapidly declined. One morning she couldn’t keep anything down at all, she was screaming with the pain in her back and the back of her head.

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“She saw another doctor; they gave her a different antibiotic. Graham and I were a bit frustrated because she couldn’t keep the antibiotic down, so we felt as if there was no point giving her them.

“We went back and forward to the doctors about six different times, and we eventually said, ‘look can we just be referred to her paediatrician’. She was already under a paediatrician and luckily enough we got an appointment.

“The day before we went, she started to become quite clumsy and lost all of her peripheral vision. She was telling us everything around her peripheral was black. So, we knew ourselves then that there was something amiss really.”

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Katie underwent a CT scan which resulted in the medulloblastoma brain tumour showing up.

“We were absolutely gobsmacked”, Elaine said. “We didn’t expect anything as devastating as a brain tumour.

“No parent is ever prepared to be told there’s a large mass at the back of your daughter’s brain. It was devastating, to be honest.

“It was heartbreaking watching what she was having to endure as a small child. Trying to help her make sense of what was happening to her body and make her understand the severity of it but without frightening her was quite difficult. It’s just every parent’s worst nightmare.”

During radiotherapy, Katie started to lose her hair but didn’t suffer many side effects other than feeling tired. She still managed to attend school too.

But Elaine described the chemotherapy as “a totally different ball game”.

She said: “Katie really found it quite challenging, emotionally, and physically. She was sick, she had widespread pain over her body, and I think her mood was affected because she wasn’t able to interact with people and have her friends round about her to be able to pick her up. It was a real challenge for her.

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“But she was so positive and determined to get through each cycle as it came. Don’t get me wrong, she had her moments, but the majority of the time she was really upbeat.

“We’re immensely proud of her every day, from her courage to her determination, and her positive outlook the whole way through it. I think that’s what kept Graham and me going, to be honest.

“We’re just so proud of everything that she’s managed to overcome these last 14 months. It’s been a long slog, but she’s got all of us through it.

“It was even harder due to the pandemic as we felt very isolated. We weren’t able to have that direct contact with people who would normally be our support network.”

It was just last month when Katie and her parents were informed the youngster was stable.

The family are now building up a sense of normality and helping Katie get back to school.

They have raised around £4,000 through various fundraising events to say thank you to Brain Tumour Research, who supported them through their difficult time.

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Elaine said: “The charity has been incredible. We were able to contact them if we felt we needed it. Lots of different charities have been absolutely wonderful. We also had support from CLIC Sergeant.

“Our aim as a family is to help raise awareness. The funding for brain tumours, especially for paediatric brain tumours, is appalling, to be honest. For us, we want to raise awareness as much as we can to help people who find themselves in our situation.

"We want to try and spread the word so hopefully other brain tumour warriors like Katie are going to get the help and the support that they deserve and need.”