Toddler's Vomiting Masked Aggressive Brain Cancer

A three-year-old boy named Dominic Rockcliffe was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer after his symptoms, including persistent vomiting, were initially mistaken for a common sickness bug or acid reflux. His mother, Kristiana Jansone, noticed he was 'failure to thrive' at six months old. In September 2023, constant vomiting prompted a hospital visit where an MRI revealed hydrocephalus and optic pathway glioma. Doctors stated that without emergency surgery to drain fluid from his brain within 24 hours, Dominic could die.

Dominic underwent surgery in Cardiff to fit a VP shunt. Two years post-diagnosis, an infection in his shunt led to meningitis and an eight-week hospital stay. Three rounds of chemotherapy failed to halt the cancer's progression. His family is now focused on getting him to Latvia for targeted therapies, including a new drug, Tovorafenib, available in the EU. Recent scans confirmed tumor growth, necessitating further surgery and treatment to ensure he is fit to fly by the end of July.