Schoolgirl who struggled to swallow had tumour 'size of orange' in 'unprecedented' case

-Credit:Birmingham Children's Hospital
-Credit:Birmingham Children's Hospital


A West Midlands school girl who was struggling to swallow was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the "size of an orange" that could not be treated by chemotherapy. It took surgeons at Birmingham Children's Hospital six hours of meticulous surgery to remove the tumour from eight-year-old Melody Brown.

The school girl, from Stoke-on-Trent, initially struggled with her breathing and swallowing, which transpired to be a rare form of sarcoma, something her surgeons said was "unprecedented." Within 24 hours of being rushed to hospital last year, Melody was put into an induced coma.

Melody's Mum, Charlene Brown, explained: "Melody was struggling a little with her breathing, which we thought had something to do with her asthma. However, over time she also struggled to swallow, and her breathing became worse, so we rushed her to our local A&E."

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Once Melody was assessed at her local A&E, she was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital to receive care within its specialist cancer service, in a "heart-sinking" moment for the family.

Charlene explained: "It all happened so quickly from when we first took her to A&E, we were in shock. When found out it was cancer, our hearts just sank. Melody's tumour was around the size of an orange so she was in a really critical condition. It was an incredibly hard time.”

Melody was in intensive care for several weeks and then moved to the hospital's Oncology ward to receive chemotherapy. Charlene said: "Unfortunately, the chemotherapy wasn't effective on Melody's type of tumour, so our only option left was surgery, which meant removing Melody's voice box.

A West Midlands school girl who was struggling to swallow was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the "size of an orange". Pictured: Melody Brown, who was treated at Birmingham Children's Hospital -Credit:Birmingham Children's Hospital
A West Midlands school girl who was struggling to swallow was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the "size of an orange". Pictured: Melody Brown, who was treated at Birmingham Children's Hospital -Credit:Birmingham Children's Hospital

"We were really worried about the surgery and what it would mean for Melody, but our consultants explained everything that needed to be done and we knew that it was the best option for her."

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A group of top surgeons from across Birmingham came together to plan a procedure called a total laryngopharyngectomy and thyroidectomy on Melody. The youngster was operated on by Mr Neil Sharma, Head and Neck Surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE) alongside Ms Kate Stephenson and Mr Michael Kuo, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) / Head and Neck Surgeons at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Ms Stephenson explained: "It's unprecedented for a child of Melody's age to undergo this type of procedure. In fact, as far as we know, this situation has never presented itself in a child this young before.

"We needed to not only remove the tumour which involved Melody's voice box and thyroid gland but also to perform a complete reconstruction of her upper food pipe. We needed experts from the QE to help us carry out this highly specialised procedure."

Incredibly, the procedure in September 2024 went well and Melody is now recovering. She even officially turned on Birmingham Children's Hospital's Christmas lights to celebrate ringing her end-of-treatment bell.

However, adjusting to a new way of communicating has been an up-hill battle, as Charlene shared: "It was really hard for Melody to begin with. Losing her hair and then being faced with losing her voice box.

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"She also needed a feeding tube for a while so she couldn't eat. She was really down and it was really hard as her Mum to watch her go through it all.

A West Midlands school girl who was struggling to swallow was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the "size of an orange". Pictured: Melody Brown, with mum Charlene
A West Midlands school girl who was struggling to swallow was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the "size of an orange". Pictured: Melody Brown, with mum Charlene

"However, since her surgery she can now eat all the things she loves again and she has come on leaps and bounds. She is already making progress with life without a voice box and learning to communicate in different ways."

Melody is currently receiving communication rehabilitation, learning techniques such as oesophageal speech or using an electrolarynx, a machine that produces vibrations to create voice sounds.

Charlene added: "Melody has a long road of recovery ahead of her and will be closely monitored by the teams but she has already overcome so many hurdles. She has been so brave and we are all so proud of her.

"I just want to say thank you much to the teams at Birmingham Children's Hospital and the surgeons there and at the QE. The support from the doctors and nurses on the wards has been amazing. I don't know how we would have coped without them. We are all just so grateful."