A nine-year-old boy whose mother thought he was just tired from school has had a brain tumour discovered following a trip to the opticians. Haisam Raja had been complaining of headaches for several months before an optometrist identified significant swelling around his optic nerves.
Haisam's mother, Misba Qayyum, initially put his symptoms down to dehydration, lack of sleep or tiredness from his busy school routine. When she took him to the GP, his symptoms were dismissed as a viral infection. It was only during an eye test that the seriousness of his condition became clear.
Emergency surgery and treatment
The optometrist urgently sent Haisam to the eye clinic at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, where a CT and MRI scan revealed a germinoma tumour the size of a ping-pong ball. The tumour was preventing fluid in his brain from draining, and doctors advised emergency surgery in April 2023.
Haisam underwent two operations, as well as chemotherapy and proton beam therapy during his treatment. Doctors were unable to take a biopsy during his first operation because of the tumour's position. He later had 10 hours of major brain surgery, during which surgeons successfully removed the whole tumour.
Misba, 38, of Nottingham, said: "At the beginning of 2023, Haisam started experiencing occasional headaches, but I thought they could be caused by dehydration, lack of sleep or tiredness from his busy routine with school and mosque. During the Easter holidays, things changed."
Family's ordeal
Misba described the moment she was told Haisam would need surgery the following morning to relieve the pressure and insert an external ventricular drain. "In that moment, I felt what real helplessness was. If I could have traded places with my baby, I would have," she said.
She added: "My husband, Qaisar, just stood there unable to move. It was the first time in eight years of marriage that I had seen him cry. I called my mum and, as soon as I heard her voice, something broke in me. 'My baby boy is not okay,' I kept saying."
Three years on, the schoolboy is said to be "doing well" and having regular MRI scans and consultant appointments. Misba advised other parents: "Trust your instincts and pay attention to changes which don't feel normal. If something doesn't feel right, speak to your GP and keep asking questions."
Mini marathon fundraiser
On September 27, Haisam is taking on the 1.5-mile run along the Victoria Embankment in Nottingham with eight friends to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. He said: "I wanted to do the mini marathon to help raise money for Brain Tumour Research, so doctors can find better treatments and help other children like me."
Brain Tumour Research says one in three children who die of cancer in the UK is killed by a brain tumour, and survival rates have improved by just 5 per cent since 1997. Dr Karen Noble, director of research and policy at Brain Tumour Research, said: "We urgently need greater investment in research into childhood brain tumours. We are incredibly grateful to Haisam and his friends for taking on the Robin Hood Mini Marathon."
