{"id":455035,"date":"2026-06-01T06:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/455035\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:38:09","slug":"taumarunui-teen-who-survived-childhood-brain-tumour-faces-new-diagnosis-15-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/455035\/","title":{"rendered":"Taumarunui teen who survived childhood brain tumour faces new diagnosis 15 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gailey told the Herald<\/a> she was asked to \u201cgather the family\u201d last Friday, as her daughter wasn\u2019t expected to survive the night.<\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler and her sibling Hunter. <\/p>\n

A Givealittle<\/a> page has been set up by a family member to help raise funds for travel, food, and accommodation costs for Tayler\u2019s family while they travel from Taumarunui to Auckland to care for her. <\/p>\n

The latest diagnosis brought a cruel twist. <\/p>\n

Gailey said a further biopsy showed \u201cthree gene mutations identified [in her tumour] are those of which you would see in radiation-induced [tumours]\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s within a certain time frame and within the radiation field, it\u2019s classified as that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gailey said Tayler was due to receive further radiation in an attempt to slow the tumour\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut once again, it\u2019s because she\u2019s palliative, like she\u2019s not expected to see any side effects of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When her daughter was first diagnosed at 2, Gailey said the radiation side effects \u201cwere never meant to matter\u201d. <\/p>\n

Tayler was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in 2011, and was given nine months to live. <\/p>\n

She underwent \u201caggressive\u201d radiation treatment, then was placed in palliative care, then hospice. <\/p>\n

Doctors were \u201cconvinced she had DIPG\u201d, a disease with few long-term survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was never meant to live to see them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Against all odds, Tayler survived. <\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler Paige was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in 2011. Photo \/ Lisa Gailey <\/p>\n

Her mother said she lived with \u201ca lot of radiation injury\u201d, including mobility and cognitive difficulties, speech impediments, multiple surgeries, and a hip replacement. <\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Gailey said her daughter carried herself \u201cwith pride\u201d over the past 15 years. <\/p>\n

Then, on her 17th birthday in February, Tayler made a comment that changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you just hate it when half your face is numb?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was taken to Waikato Hospital where an MRI revealed \u201canother bigger and deeper\u201d tumour deep within her brainstem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 15 years, you think you got away with it, like you think you got really lucky,\u201d Gailey said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden [it\u2019s back].\u201d<\/p>\n

Gailey said she was later told by doctors that it\u2019s \u201cvery rare\u201d for someone to get a radiation-induced tumour, with chances between 1 and 2%.<\/p>\n

Tayler was supposed to start radiation on May 20 at Waikato Hospital, but developed pneumonia three days before starting.<\/p>\n

She was transferred to Starship children\u2019s hospital, where she continued to fight before another setback. <\/p>\n

Her lung collapsed, and she\u2019s only breathing with a \u201csmall portion\u201d of her right lung now. <\/p>\n

Gailey said Tayler was caught in a heartbreaking cycle: she was due to receive radiation intended to slow the tumour\u2019s growth, but her pneumonia had to improve before treatment could begin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time ever that the cancer has actually taken anything from her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time it stopped her progressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Gailey family before Tayler was diagnosed on her 17th birthday. Photo \/ Jess <\/p>\n

Gailey said she remains uncertain about what another round of radiation could mean for her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know neurologically how another dose of radiation will leave her, it can be pretty destructive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut until now, it\u2019s the only thing that can stop it in its tracks and relieve some of the symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wants other parents in a similar situation to ask the hard questions about radiation side effects. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have a sense of guilt, like what if I\u2019d gotten a second opinion? I was only 23 at the time, and I just really didn\u2019t know I could argue,\u201d Gailey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I can pretty accurately find the information on Google and ask the right questions, but back then, I couldn\u2019t … This time I\u2019m definitely way more informed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Gailey said she has reached a \u201csense of acceptance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching her struggle to breathe and being miserable in a hospital bed, I just don\u2019t want her to suffer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to preserve her in a body that doesn\u2019t work so she can watch everyone else live. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe spent her whole life trying to be just like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tayler is the second-youngest of four siblings and the family has faced the journey together since her diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Her youngest brother was just 12 weeks old when she was diagnosed. The pair, only 20 months apart in age, were toilet-trained together and attended kindergarten together.<\/p>\n

When the family was told Tayler might not survive the night, he drove 29 hours from Invercargill to be by her side.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s never known life without her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my kids are very close. It\u2019s going to destroy them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, though, Tayler remains herself.<\/p>\n

Gailey said her daughter still has \u201cthe biggest smile on her face\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCognitively, she\u2019s still all there. She still has sass and attitude some days, and a sense of humour. She very rarely complains.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s too good for this world, too gentle.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gailey told the Herald she was asked to \u201cgather the family\u201d last Friday, as her daughter wasn\u2019t expected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23968,6325,1596,6184,796,6119,2109,231421,9933,4960,117,111,43,139,69,9348,39428,231420,5163,30331,3755,6859,21733,1316,1299,33057,1530],"class_list":["post-455035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-23968","tag-birthday","tag-brain","tag-childhood","tag-diagnosis","tag-faces","tag-family","tag-gailey","tag-later","tag-live","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-survived","tag-taumarunui","tag-tayler","tag-teen","tag-terminal","tag-third","tag-told","tag-tumour","tag-when","tag-who","tag-wouldnt","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}