BRAVE FIGHT WE SAID OUR GOODBYES...

INITIALLY DIAGNOSED WITH REFLUX, KALANI FACED A TOUGH ROAD AHEAD

Charlene Ebbs can remember the moment she discovered her baby girl was gravely ill like it was yesterday.

‘We were told Kalani had a brain tumour – it was like having my heart ripped out,’ the mum-of-three says. ‘At that stage, we didn’t know it was cancer.’

The little girl was just four months old when Charlene and her husband Justin noticed she wasn’t meeting the same milestones as her older brother Kallan, six, and sister Khaleesi, three. ‘We noticed that Kalani had weaker head and neck control,’ Charlene tells New Idea.

And when Kalani began vomiting violently, a doctor put it down to ‘bad baby reflux’.

The family was referred to a physiotherapist for a second opinion and this time they were sent straight to emergency.

‘Our paediatrician spent two days doing scans and tests,’ Charlene says. ‘They thought she might’ve had a virus.’

When the tests came back clear, Kalani was sent for an ultrasound. ‘The ultrasound on her brain showed that she had a build-up of fluid,’ Charlene explains, adding: ‘The next day they ordered an MRI.’

A few hours after she had the scan, the family were then given the devastating news that it was a brain tumour.

Kalani had to undergo emergency surgery to remove the mass. ‘We were told she might not survive,’ Charlene reveals. ‘We were basically saying our goodbyes in case she didn’t make it through.’

Luckily, the six-hour surgery was a success. But the neurosurgeon couldn’t remove the entire tumour as a small section was wrapped around Kalani’s brain stem.

Charlene reveals: ‘If they removed that part they would’ve killed her on the spot.’

Tests showed that Kalani had an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour. Charlene says the rarity of the cancer in Australia is ‘one in three million’.

The little girl was given a 40 to 50 per cent chance of being cured, before enduring 15 months of chemotherapy and radiation.

‘She’s had the maximum level of chemo toxicity they could give her without causing heart failure,’ Charlene explains. ‘But it’s made her infertile and destroyed all her eggs.’

On May 23, 2017, doctors declared Kalani in remission, but the family remain cautious.

Even so, they’re so proud of their little fighter.

‘Kalani’s bravery and strength has inspired our family,’ reveals a proud Charlene.

‘IF THEY REMOVED THAT PART THEY WOULD’VE KILLED HER ON THE SPOT’