Lazy eye brain tumour: How a little girl’s common eye-condition was hiding a ticking time bomb that her doctors and teachers all missed

A childhood cancer survivor has revealed why it took doctors months to diagnose her with a brain tumor despite numerous warning signs.

The parents of then five-year-old Georgia began to realize that the Tasmanian kindergartener was becoming uncoordinated, falling into toys and bumping into poles, and had developed a lazy eye.

The family doctor said they had nothing to worry about and that her coordination would return as her “out” eye healed over time.

After eight months of no improvement and numerous doctors not knowing what was happening to the girl, she was finally given a referral for an MRI.

Scans revealed Georgia’s symptoms were caused by a cancerous tumor that had wrapped itself around her optic nerve and spread to her brain.

At the age of five, Georgia (pictured) began to lose coordination and develop a lazy eye, and her parents were told by a therapist that they had nothing to worry about.

The next day, Georgia was rushed into surgery and doctors had to cut into the right side of her skull to try to cut out the tumor.

Although the surgery had limited success: most of the tumor was removed, areas had to be left and treated with chemotherapy.

After spending eight months waiting for a diagnosis, Georgia will spend another eight months in a grueling battle with chemotherapy.

Two decades later, she recalls having to drive three hours to a nearby clinic for radiation treatment when she just wanted to “play with her friends again.”

“My treatment was a long process: first I had to have surgery, and once I recovered from it, numerous rounds of chemotherapy began,” she said. Dining rooma charity that helps support children with cancer.

“In addition, I have lost vision in one eye and my peripheral vision is limited in the other. It was a long road back to something resembling a ‘normal’ life.”

Even though she beat the disease and went into remission just under a year later, the trauma of the experience stayed with her and was made worse because she had no one to talk to about her battle with cancer.

“After a few years I realized I was still battling cancer, I felt isolated and disconnected from other people my age,” she said.

Eight months later, a cancerous tumor was discovered around her optic nerve, and she spent another eight months undergoing chemotherapy to combat the disease.

Two decades later, the schoolteacher said the most painful experience was the loneliness she felt, not knowing anyone who had been similarly affected by cancer.

Georgia was introduced to the Canteen as a teenager, where she finally found the company she was looking for.

“I can tell you, that’s when my life changed. At my first canteen program I met two other girls from Tasmania who had also been through their own experiences and we became best friends from then on,” she said.

“I was able to access unconditional support and interact with many young people.”

Since then, Georgia has become the organization’s youth ambassador, encouraging children with cancer to reach out to the organization.

Her story was shared by Canteen as part of a festive fundraising campaign to help other young people get the help they need.

“The cafeteria programs are designed to help young people affected by cancer meet others who share similar stories. It’s about bringing them together so they can find that peer support that they don’t get anywhere else,” said Oli, the cafeteria program manager.