We knew something was wrong when Eloise sang out of tune...
IT was when Eloise Mills stopped being able to walk straight and sing in tune that her grandparents knew something was really wrong.
For four years, the nine-year-old had displayed the sort of symptoms that any family would be worried by.
The pupil at St Peter's Primary School, Ruddington, suffered constant headaches and could not sing in tune, walk straight or ride a bike.
When Eloise's grandparents Cheryl, 57, and Steve Mills, 61, who are her guardians, were given the diagnosis, they had almost expected the bad news.
Cheryl said: "It was terrifying, although I think in my heart I had already guessed.
"It had been going on for such a long time – we kept thinking it was bad. She couldn't even ride her bike."
Eloise was diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma, which is when a tumour develops in the brain and releases fluids that create a cyst around it.
When Eloise eventually went to hospital, things started to speed up. "Finally, she went to Queen's Medical Centre and she had an MRI scan," Cheryl said. "That night, she stayed in hospital. She had a tumour the size of a walnut and a cyst the size of an orange. Luckily, it was benign, though.
"It took such a long time to diagnose it but it was all so quick – the Queen's Medical Centre is the best place you can possibly be. The nurses were excellent.
"As the nurses were leaving after checking Eloise over, they said they were getting a doctor. I knew then it was going to be bad news."
Breaking the news to her granddaughter was the hardest part for Cheryl.
She said: "I had to tell her it was a lump in her head and they would remove it. She took it very well."
Surgeon and specialist Donald Macarthur said the surgery, which he performed on August 16 last year and took three hours, was not free of risk.
He said: "Often, patients with conditions like this have headaches, which can have them feeling sick. We did the scan and decided we needed to do the operation.
"We told the family there were risks, as there are with most operations. But they were small risks."
In the worst-case scenario the surgery could have killed Eloise or left her in a coma. She could also have been left with speech problems.
But with her being unable to walk properly because of the water building up around her brain, it was decided it was worth the risk.
Since the surgery, two follow-up scans have not revealed any further problems. Doctors will keep a close eye on her.
And importantly for Eloise, she has her singing voice back again.
