{"id":389265,"date":"2026-03-17T07:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/389265\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T07:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:57:11","slug":"three-gp-visits-misdiagnosed-my-sons-rare-brain-tumour-as-infections-before-we-had-to-rush-him-to-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/389265\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Three GP visits misdiagnosed my son\u2019s rare brain tumour as infections before we had to rush him to hospital\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Essex mother of a three-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare brain tumour has said three separate GP visits misdiagnosed her son\u2019s cancer as infections before he was rushed to A&E.<\/p>\n

Emily Cable, 30, a former retail worker, said her son Frank first presented with fatigue and irritability in April 2024, aged one. This progressed to breathlessness within two weeks, so he was taken to a private GP who said it was a chest infection and prescribed a five-day course of antibiotics.<\/p>\n

Within days, Frank\u2019s condition worsened to vomiting and extreme lethargy, so Emily said her husband Josh took him to their local GP two more times, where on both occasions it was believed to be a viral infection.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

But less than 24 hours after the third appointment, Emily said Frank was rushed to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford and had a \u201cmassive seizure\u201d in her arms that \u201ccompletely came out of the blue\u201d, prompting a CT scan and X-ray.<\/p>\n

Emily told PA Real Life: \u201cWhen we came back, Josh and I got asked to go and talk in another room and I just knew at that point that it was going to be bad news.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe walked into this treatment room and there were chairs in a circle and a box of tissues. They sat us down and they said to us that there was a large tumour at the back of Frank\u2019s head and a large amount of fluid build-up too.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cFrank was in a really bad way,\u201d she said of his diagnosis on May 23, 2024, aged 15 months.<\/p>\n

Emily said Frank had to be put in an induced coma because the fluid build-up put him \u201cat risk of having a stroke or more seizures\u201d, before an intensive care ambulance team transferred him to Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo all of a sudden our world just changed,\u201d Emily said. \u201cWe had this huge news and suddenly they were passing Frank over to this team that had arrived at the hospital with all this equipment.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was terrifying,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Immediately after arriving at Gosh, Emily said Frank was taken \u201cstraight into theatre\u201d for \u201clife-saving surgery\u201d while she and Josh signed the paperwork and then waited up to two hours for an update.<\/p>\n

After a successful surgery, Emily described what happened next: \u201cI will never forget walking in and seeing Frank lying in this hospital bed in a coma with all this equipment around him.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many tubes and so many wires. He just seemed so tiny with so much attached to him, keeping him alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just sobbed. And I remember saying to my husband, \u2018we can\u2019t lose him\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Less than a week later, Emily said Frank had to undergo an 11-hour surgery to remove his brain tumour, where she described having to \u201csay goodbye\u201d to him before he was put under general anaesthetic.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Emily and Josh hadn\u2019t seen their daughters, Olivia and Sofia, 9 and 7 respectively, since the start of Frank\u2019s medical emergency, so the couple\u2019s parents brought the girls to London to spend the day together while they waited for an update from the hospital.<\/p>\n

Emily said: \u201cI was just constantly checking my phone, checking to see if there were going to be any updates. In a way, I didn\u2019t want there to be because they said to us, \u2018You\u2019d only hear if it\u2019s bad news\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time just went on and on and on, and it felt like the longest day of my life. Then we got a phone call to say that he was back and that they were really pleased with how the surgery had gone, and I had never walked faster back to the hospital to get there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Following the surgery, Emily remembered Frank was \u201cvery swollen\u201d, bruised, and he couldn\u2019t move his head: \u201cHow the brain surgeons managed to get rid of the whole tumour without causing any real permanent damage is just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrank\u2019s done amazing. He is our little miracle,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Once doctors tested Frank\u2019s tumour, Emily said they found out it was cancerous \u2013 specifically a rare form of cancer called an ependymoma, with typical symptoms including headaches, feeling or being sick, problems with coordination and sight, and seizures, according to the cancer charity Macmillan.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Frank started a course of proton beam therapy at University College London Hospital (UCLH) in June 2024, which is a highly targeted form of radiotherapy.<\/p>\n

After six weeks of this daily treatment, with only the weekends as respite, Emily said it took its toll on her son: \u201cHe was exhausted. He stopped sleeping. He stopped eating.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had to have a feeding tube. He had no energy to really crawl around and play. And it was really hard for him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Emily praised the hospital staff throughout her son\u2019s journey, including Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, who were \u201cabsolutely incredible\u201d in updating the family on \u201cnext steps and communicating\u201d.<\/p>\n

Similarly, she said Gosh were \u201csuch a big support\u201d to her family, especially the dedicated play team, who would \u201ctailor toys\u201d for him during his recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019d bring little lights or balls for him and they really worked hard to build up a relationship,\u201d Emily said. \u201cAnd now, when we go back to the same ward for appointments, Frank is so comfortable with them.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will go straight off into that playroom, sit down with the play specialist and chat away. He\u2019ll boss her around. When we were last in the ward, he was getting her to push him up and down in a little car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just really work hard to get that trust. Because there\u2019s so much scary stuff for them \u2013 getting poked and prodded \u2013 so then to have the play specialist there that is fun and making them comfortable is so important,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2024, Frank had finished his radiotherapy and had a scan to reveal he was in remission.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Emily said: \u201cI remember getting the message as I was collecting my girls from school. I was crying with my friends and other school mums.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a huge celebration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Emily said Frank\u2019s development was impacted by his surgeries and treatments, meaning he \u201conly really just started to talk\u201d and walk from November 2025 onwards, using a walking frame for the latter.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Today, Emily said Frank \u201cstill spends a lot of time in hospital\u201d and he will need to continue to have scans regularly over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

Emily said: \u201cWe try to keep things as normal as possible for our family. It\u2019s hard and that worry will never go.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour life changes forever, but you take every win, so seeing Frank walk for the first time and standing up or talking to us, even saying his sister\u2019s names \u2013 those are the most special moments ever.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause, at one point, I never thought I\u2019d see that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Emily, Josh, and Frank are supporting Gosh Charity\u2019s launch of three sculptures at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from Tuesday March 17, woven from replica chemotherapy wires. To find out more and donate to help build the new Children\u2019s Cancer Centre at GOSH, visit: gosh.org\/childrens-cancer-centre<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Essex mother of a three-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare brain tumour has said three separate GP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[18606,110,18,177793,17670,177794,136571,135,19,17,130,177795,134492],"class_list":["post-389265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-brain-tumour","tag-cancer","tag-eire","tag-ependymoma","tag-essex","tag-gosh-charity","tag-great-ormond-street-hospital","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-london","tag-proton-beam-therapy","tag-university-college-london-hospital"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116243454336877328","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}