Heartbreaking diagnosis behind little girl's 'worst headache ever'
A young girl has opened up about the pain she suffers since the “worst headache ever” turned out to be a tumour in her brain.
Nine-year-old Charli Berghauser discovered she had the 11mm by 9mm pineal cystic tumour in the middle of her brain last October and is sharing her story to help raise money for life-saving surgery.
“I’m quite good when it comes to pain, I can handle it cause I’m tough,” Charli, from Jimboomba in Queensland, wrote on her GoFundMe page.
“Sometimes I can’t, and I tell my mum. But I don’t like her to worry all the time,”
“I have days off school when my head hurts too much, and when I’m having one of my moods.
“I have them a lot.
“I have head pain nearly every day, even panadol doesn’t make it go away.”
Charli said the tumour has also caused blurry vision and makes her angry.
“Sometimes it’s because no one understands me, and sometimes I don’t even know until my mum has to calm me down,” she wrote.
“Since finding out about my Cystic Tumour, I haven’t been allowed to do what I love.”
Charli is no longer able to play on a jumping castle or a trampoline, and has had to give up playing rugby, a sport she has loved since she was five.
The girl’s parents Kas and Tony are hoping to get neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo to perform surgery on their daughter.
The family met with Dr Teo last week and he told Charli he wants to help her play footy again.
Charli’s tumour is blocking the cerebrospinal fluid in her brain, causing her blurry vision, headaches and change in mood.
“I really need this surgery and it’s going to cost a lot of money,” Charli wrote.
“My mum and dad are going to need a lot of help. It’s going to cost $100,000.”
In five days almost $11,500 has already been raised for the nine-year-old.
Visit Charli’s GoFundMe page to donate.
