IOWA CITY, Iowa — At eight years old, Gracelyn Springer, of Alburnett, Iowa, began experiencing headache and nausea when she would wake. These instances were infrequent at first—maybe once a week—but the frequency and severity both would increase over time.
“It got to the point where it was almost every day, and she was vomiting, not just nauseous,” says her mother, Kelsey.
Gracelyn’s parents also noticed her left eye would “deviate” to the center, and she showed sensitivity to sound at school.
“It was about six to eight weeks before we finally got an answer,” Kelsey says.
That answer was a diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma, a cancer that typically occurs in leg bones or soft tissue of the chest, abdomen, and limbs.
In Gracelyn’s case, doctors discovered the tumor in her head.
Read Gracelyn’s story here.