Families and medical experts are urging the Federal Government to provide additional funding for research on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that claims the lives of about 20 Australian children annually. DIPG affects the part of the brain responsible for vital functions like breathing and balance, causing symptoms such as difficulty with swallowing, headaches, and abnormal eye movements. The story of 7-year-old Samuel Scully, who was diagnosed with DIPG after his mother noticed his slurred speech, highlights the urgent need for a cure.
Families and medical experts are calling on the Federal Government to commit more funding to find treatments for a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that kills about 20 Australian kids every year. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma ( DIPG ) is a tumour that develops in a part of the brain that controls important body functions such as heartbeat, breathing, sleeping, balance and bladder control.
Some of the symptoms include difficulties with balance and swallowing, headaches and odd eye movements. Adelaide boy Samuel Scully, 7, was diagnosed with the cancer in January this year after his mother noticed his speech was slurred. “He’d lost his two bottom teeth at the same time, so I just kind of put it down to that,” Scully’s mother, Alison Harrison, said. “He also had a fall at school, so I thought maybe he had a concussion.” Scully was rushed to the emergency department and within a few hours, brain scans showed he had a tumour the size of a peach that had no cure. “I think every single person on that floor of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital heard me screaming .
Childhood Cancer Funding Research DIPG Brain Tumour Symptoms Treatment
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