A mum has shared the unusual sign that lead to her daughter being diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour.
Olivia Szabo, five, was described by her mum, Marietta Kulcsar, 35, a hypnotherapist from Manchester, as a “playful, smiley” child up until September 2023, when she fell over in the playground and banged her head. But it was her daughter developing a “drunk person’s walk” out of the blue that alerted Marietta’s “mother’s intuition” that something might be seriously wrong.
Weekly visits to A&E didn’t get to the bottom of the problem, but in December, when Olivia’s face suddenly fell to one side, she was rushed for a CT scan, which confirmed she had a large tumour in the back of her head.
Before her fall Marietta says her daughter had been struggling with her balance and often had to hold on to support herself on the wall as she walked around the house. “The way she walked was similar to a drunk person,” she explains. “When she woke up at night, she’d need to hold the wall to get to me.
Olivia had also started eating and drinking less and visibly lost weight. After her playground accident, Marietta took her straight to A&E to figure out what was wrong. But doctors thought an infection was likely the cause of her balance issues. “The doctors thought it might be a urinary tract infection or a stomach bug, when she started vomiting a lot,” Marietta explains. “I asked for Olivia to have a CT scan but doctors were worried she was too young for such an intense exam,” she continues. “But she wasn’t getting any better.”
On December 22, 2023, Marietta noticed Olivia’s face began drooping on one side, but at first it was so subtle that only she could spot it. “We were with my sister, her kids, and Olivia’s dad,” she says.”I said to him: ‘Do you see, the side of her face has dropped?’ No one really saw it – but I did,” she continues. “I’m always with her, so I know when something isn’t right.”
Marietta rushed Olivia back to A&E, and doctors took her for a CT scan, as well as an MRI the following day, which revealed a large tumour at the back of her brain. Olivia’s care team explained that because of the positioning of the tumour removing it all could result in catastrophic brain damage, leading to Olivia losing her mobility, or potentially not being able to wake up from surgery. But on December 29, they managed to remove some of it, during a seven-hour procedure. “It was a very emotional Christmas,” Marietta says of the period. We didn’t enjoy it, at all.”
Following her operation the family were told Olivia would need 18 months worth of chemotherapy, which is due to finish in August 2025. Thankfully, though, her tumour has shrunk and doctors have advised she may be able to live a long life, with the tumour as a chronic condition. This means she’ll receive chemo every six months, until she turns nine, as well as yearly MRIs until the age of 16.
“She’ll be able to live a normal life, one day,” Marietta says as the family look to the future. “But we’re cautious. If it starts to get bigger, we need to start everything again. We’re hoping to have a better Christmas this year, but we can’t be further than an hour away from the nearest hospital.
“She’s fighting to get her energy back,” Marietta adds. “But on OK days, she’s just like she used to be.”
Read more about brain tumours: