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| An operation to remove a brain tumour of a seven-year-old girl in Britain has left her chuckling non-stop. |
Doctors had warned surgery could leave Emma Stephens feeling upset or angry – but instead it turned her into Little Miss Giggles, Metro.co.uk reported.
Her mother Vana believes the constant mirth helped her family pull through the hard times. ‘We would visit Enna and try to put on a brave face but inside we were just crushed,’ said the 40-year-old police force worker.
‘But once Enna started giggling, we found ourselves doing the same, it was so infectious.
‘And it was just a great way of releasing our emotions.’
Enna, from New Marske, Cleveland, had suffered dizzy spells, blurriness and sickness before a visit to the opticians in June revealed a malignant growth behind her eye.
The operation caused a side-effect called the pseudobulbar effect, in which patients who have undergone brain tumour surgery often suffer involuntary emotions such as giggling or crying caused by disruptions to nerves.
Enna, a keen ballet dancer, now faces 16 months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, although doctors say there is an 80 per cent chance the tumour will not return.
Mrs Stephens added: ‘We were told by doctors that most patients who have had a brain tumour removed often feel depressed, or can even be angry. But Enna would giggle all the time. It was so lovely to hear after everything she had been through.’source
