Mother puts own cancer treatment on hold for sick son

WHEN Imogene Davidson was diagnosed with breast cancer at 30, she never could have guessed the worst was yet to come.

Just weeks later it was revealed son Riley had a golf ball-sized mass growing on his brain.

A routine optometrist appointment was the first sign anything was seriously wrong with the bright 10-year-old Onekawa School student.

He had been suffering the odd "little headache" which Ms Davidson thought may have been due to problems with his vision.

"We went to Spec Savers in Napier two weeks ago, she did some tests that showed he had inflamed nerves behind his eyes, which is not normal for a kid," Ms Davidson says.

They saw an ophthalmologist at Hawke's Bay Hospital the following day, which resulted in a referral to the pediatric department for an MRI scan last Tuesday.

"We were there at 6.30am, by 11am the doctor called me in and said Riley had a mass growing in his cerebellum at the back of his brain - we were on a plane to Starship by 1pm that afternoon."

The 10-year-old underwent seven-hour surgery at Starship Hospital in Auckland on Thursday - the same date Ms Davidson was scheduled to meet a specialist to discuss her own treatment options back in Hawke's Bay.

Needless to say those plans were put on hold.

A photo of Ms Davidson cuddling a smiling Riley in his hospital bed four days after surgery reveals little of the stress and pain the past week has brought.

Originally posted here:
Mother puts own cancer treatment on hold for sick son