Sinister reason for eight-year-old’s headache

Evie Minnis was a bright and bubbly eight-year-old girl who loved dinosaurs, swimming and playing with her friends when she started experiencing headaches in April last year.
“She was having lots of headaches and then she started vomiting,” said mum Angela.
“But then it started happening more regularly, sometimes twice a day.”
At first, Angela and her husband Steve, of Pakenham in Melbourne, thought their only child was tired and run down after a busy term at school, where she was in year 3.
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When Evie’s symptoms got worse, Angela took her to the GP, who suggested she undergo blood tests, an eye examination and an MRI.
After a follow-up appointment, the GP sent them to Monash Children’s Hospital’s emergency department, where doctors suspected Evie was suffering migraines.
As a precaution, they fast-tracked her MRI to the next day.
Angela was at work when her husband rang her to say doctors had “found something.”
She rushed to Monash Children’s Hospital where doctors told them Evie had “a brain tumour at the back of her brain near the brain stem” and needed urgent surgery to remove fluid and relieve the pressure on her brain.
“She was admitted to hospital that night [Thursday, May 17, 2023]. On Friday she had her first surgery and on Monday she had major surgery to remove the brain tumour,” Angela recalled.
Before the surgery, doctors told them all the things that could go wrong, including the possibility she would lose the ability to walk, speak and swallow.
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“Of course we were told all the risks and things. Right at the end when the doctor said… ‘She might not be able to talk’, my husband said my face just dropped. Our Evie is a beautiful, busy little girl who loves to talk.”
The following day, Evie underwent a marathon operation to remove the brain tumour.
“It was quite a long surgery – about 10 hours – all day and into the night,” Angela said.
It was only after she woke up their worst fears were realised. Evie had suffered cerebellar mutism syndrome (CMS), a common complication from surgery to remove childhood brain tumours.
Then, five days after the surgery, doctors told them Evie had grade four medullobalstoma, a fast-growing tumour in a part of the brain that controls balance, movement and muscle co-ordination.
While they had removed all but 1mm of the tumour during surgery, doctors said she would need radiotherapy and chemotherapy to give her the best chance of survival.
After a few weeks to recover from the brain surgery and start rehabilitation, Evie was transported to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre five times a week for six weeks to undergo radiotherapy. Each time she required a general anaesthetic.
At the end of the radiotherapy, she underwent more rehabilitation before she started four months of chemotherapy.
Evie finally finished chemotherapy in January this year, but remained in hospital for another three months to undergo intensive rehabilitation, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, music and play therapy.
“She has had to relearn how to walk, how to talk, how to eat,” Angela said.
Finally, after 343 days in hospital, Evie was discharged on April 24 this year but remained a hospital outpatient.
Because she could not swallow, Evie was fitted with a nasogastric tube soon after her diagnosis, which was finally removed just three weeks ago.
Evie, now 10, is continuing her recovery from home. She still has some right-side ataxia (weakness) and while she uses a wheelchair when she is out, she is able to walk with the help of a walker.
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She has also suffered some hearing loss from the chemotherapy.
She recently went back to school three mornings a week.
A recent MRI found no evidence of disease and she will now move from monthly to three-monthly check-ups.
During Evie’s long stint in hospital, the family was supported by My Room Children’s Cancer Charity, which provided some of the therapies she needed in hospital and also gave the family a Christmas hamper.
Starlight Children’s Foundation also supported Evie through its Starlight Room program.
“The Starlight Room was a place for Evie to go to just be a kid,” Angela said.
“In the Starlight Room you cannot talk about anything medical, so when she was well enough to visit the Starlight Room that was her favourite place to go.”
Just last month, Evie was granted a Starlight Wish in the form of an adorable chocolate Groodle puppy she named Rex after her favourite dinosaur.
Reflecting on the past year and a half, Angela said she “never would have thought” her family would have been affected by childhood cancer.
“But we have got to know a lot of other families and we have been able to support each other,” she said.
She also praised Evie for her “remarkable resilience.”
Both Angela and her husband have had to drop back to part-time work so someone is always there to care for Evie and get her to her many ongoing appointments.
This Thursday, Melbourne’s The Sunday Footy Show will join forces with My Room Children’s Cancer Charity to raise funds for children like Evie.
My Room Children’s Cancer Charity was formed in 1993 and originally set out to make children’s hospital rooms feel more like home.
Since then it has raised more than $33 million to improve the quality of life for children and families affected by childhood cancer through high-quality clinical care, medical research, trials and equipment. It also provides financial assistance through its Samaritan Fund.
My Room Grand Final Spectacular will be televised live from the Palms at Crown Melbourne from 7.30pm eastern standard time.
The Sunday Footy Show host Eddie McGuire and TV presenter Alicia Loxley will present a night of football action and entertainment from stars Cody Simpson and Emmanuel Kelly. 
During the show, My Room Children’s Cancer Charity ambassadors will be on the phone to take donations.
You can watch the show live on Channel 9 and 9Now in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, while NSW and Queensland viewers can watch on 9Gem.
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