East Lothian mum told 'to come in right away' after eight-year-old son's headaches

A East Lothian mum has told how she listened to her "gut feeling" over her son's after-school exhaustion - and doctors discovered he had a cancerous brain tumour.

Mason MacKenzie, eight, went for a routine, yearly eye test on January 4, 2024.

His mum, Carly, 27, flagged to the optician that the tot had been suffering from minor headaches, as well as feeling tired and grumpy at the end of the day.

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She was told to let her GP know - but instead she took him to hospital following her "gut feeling."

An MRI revealed just two days later that Mason had an early-stage, cancerous tumour on the left-hand side of his brain - about the size of a grape.

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Mason's prognosis is good, as doctors managed to remove it early - but say they'd be telling a "very different story" if it weren't for the eye test.

Carly, a domestic abuse practitioner from East Lothian, Scotland, said: "So many people have asked me about Mason's first signs and symptoms - but the truth is, he didn't really have any. Because we managed to catch it early, Mason was strong when he went into surgery and had his treatment.

"But his doctors have said, if we'd waited just a couple of weeks longer, we'd be telling a very different story."

On January 4, Carly took Mason to his eye test, and "didn't think anything of it".

His test came back normal, and the optician routinely asked if he'd experienced any headaches, eye strain or dizziness.

Carly let her know that Mason had experienced some minor headaches - but due to his autism spectrum disorder (ASD), believed sensory overload was the cause.

"She told us to maybe keep an eye on it," she said. "I was told to flag it when I was next at the GP with Mason.

"To be honest, he had all the checks at the opticians - he was all healthy, all fine."

Weeks later, however, Mason woke up with a "really sore neck."

He complained to Carly about it, which raised alarm bells as she says he has a high pain tolerance.

Carly decided to phone the GP for advice, and was told to "maybe take him to hospital."

She said: "We went to A&E, and they gave him some ibuprofen. They were just sending us on our way, when I thought I'd mention the optician."

Carly told Mason's doctor about his headaches and tiredness at the end of the day.

She emphasised she wasn't worried, thinking it was down to his ASD.

But the doctor ordered a child-friendly MRI, just to make sure.

Mason underwent the scan in March - and two days later, Carly received a call from Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and told to come in straight away.

She said: "A brain tumour didn't cross my mind, I don't even know what I was thinking. I phoned my mum, Amanda, and said: 'You need to come with us.'

"We picked Mason up from school - and because of his ASD, he was upset that this wasn't part of the plan. To make things worse, we walked into the room and there were two strangers waiting for us."

Carly and Amanda were told that Mason had a 3cm-by-2cm tumour on the left side of his brain.

The only "realistic" way to biopsy it would be to do it at the same time as the removal surgery.

On March 20, 2024, doctors managed to successfully remove the entirety of Mason's tumour - and eight days later, the family were told that it had been cancerous.

"Mason awoke the day after surgery," Carly said. "He was really struggling for the first two days, but on day three, he took a huge turn for the better.

"By day five, we were discharged - after they predicted he'd need to be in for around two months."

Mason has received six rounds of three types of chemotherapy, across six months - which he completed in October.

He'll be treatment-free and in remission over Christmas - but Carly has to keep a cautious eye on any signs of relapse.

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She said: "He'll be off treatment in November and December - then another scan after Christmas, to see if there's another growth. I can't lie to Mason and say he'll never need treatment again, but it's nice for him to be off now.

"I don't like to say he's cancer-free, but we're seeing how this bit goes. During our end-of-treatment meeting, Mason's oncologist said his optician's appointment saved his life."