Geelong West mum Daisy Parsons battles rare brain tumours

A Geelong West mum is determined to maintain a positive mindset after she was diagnosed with two rare brain tumours.

Geelong West mum Daisy Parsons is battling two rare brain tumours. Pictured with son Hendrix, 11. Picture: Supplied

A Geelong West mum spent 11 hours on the operating table after two rare tumours were found on her brain.

Daisy Parsons was diagnosed with medulloblastomas earlier this year.

The brain cancer is rare in adults, and more commonly found in children.

The 34-year-old mother of one started to get dull headaches in September last year but they gradually intensified.

“I would get it in the morning and it would subside during the day,” she said.

“As the months went on, they would continue into the evening.”

Ms Parsons went to see her GP earlier this year, who ran some blood tests which came back normal.

But Ms Parsons felt as though “something still wasn’t quite right”.

She rang her doctor to ask for an MRI referral to “be on the safe side” but the next day, she woke up an “excruciating” headache.

“I couldn’t move my head, I couldn’t walk, I was vomiting,” Ms Parsons said.

She was rushed to the emergency department at Geelong hospital and underwent a CT scan, which showed a large “abnormal” lesion.

Ms Parsons was then transferred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on February 2, where further testing identified this lesion was one of two rare medulloblastomas on her brain.

On February 7, she had surgery to remove the tumours, which was expected to take five hours but took 11 hours.

“It was a very big operation,” she said.

“The tumours were pressing up on my brain stem.

“The edge of the tumour was on a blood vessel so they tried to get as much as they could but it was bleeding a lot.”

In early March, Ms Parsons will begin five weeks of radiation before starting four to six months of chemotherapy to ensure there are no cancerous cells left.

She is currently awaiting biopsy results, which are expected in the coming weeks, to determine the subtype of the tumours.

“It’s going to be a long road but I’ve got to be positive and I’m grateful I’ve caught it now,” she said.

Ms Parsons is trying to maintain a “glass half full” attitude while she battles cancer.

“Even though I don’t know the full diagnosis, my doctor has said this is a curable cancer so if I try to stay in this positive mindset, it will give me the best chance to fight this,” she said.

A Go Fund Me has been established for Ms Parsons to help her with daily expenses and to support her 11-year-old son, Hendrix.

“It will allow me to concentrate on my health and not worry about needing to head back to work,” she said.

“I’m lucky to be here, that’s the way I have to look at this.”

Originally published as Geelong West mum Daisy Parsons battles rare brain tumours