Gabriel, 3, Emmalie, Jakeeta, 5, and Shea Baylis at home after seven weeks in Melbourne. Picture: SCOTT GELSTON
WITH a cheeky smile and iPad in hand, three-year-old Gabriel Baylis was glad to finally be home at Riverside yesterday.
``Mummy, we're home,'' he said to mum Emmalie when he first woke yesterday morning.
The Baylis family arrived in Launceston about 7pm on Friday.
They had been living at Ronald McDonald House in Melbourne for three months, after Gabriel was diagnosed with a tumour that wrapped around his brain stem.
Gabriel had surgery in October, but doctors could only remove 75 per cent of the tumour and the operation left him needing to learn to walk and talk again.
Mrs Baylis and husband Shea were worried Gabriel may have had to undergo another operation to remove the other 25 per cent of the tumour and doctors said more surgery could leave him paralysed.
However, on Thursday, they received Gabriel's MRI results, which showed it could be treated with radiation.
The family was therefore able to come home for a rest.
``It's just really good to see Gabriel at home and Jakeeta (sister) as well, because it was really starting to take a toll on her,'' Mrs Baylis said.
``They just played with their toys last night, they were so happy to see all their things.''
And Gabriel is slowly starting to get better.
``Every day there's a little improvement,'' Mrs Baylis said.
``He's starting to get his hair back. His speech is slowly improving. One of the muscles in the back of his throat, which is a nasal passage, was weakened in the operation which meant he couldn't get certain sounds out clearly, but those sounds are coming out now.
``But he still has a bit of trouble with his right hand and his right leg and walking.''
The family will fly back to Melbourne on Wednesday where they will have a consultation with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre where they will find out more about the radiation treatment.
``He will have six weeks of radiation, five days a week and he will have to have a general anaesthetic every day,'' Mr Baylis said.
``Then after that they will wait a couple of weeks for the swelling to go down and then do another MRI scan and see where it goes from there.''
Mrs Baylis expressed the family's thanks to the Northern Tasmanian community, which has raised more than $10,000 for the family.
``We just can't believe what everyone has done for us,'' she said.
``It's amazing.''
The Riverside Lions Club and the Westbury Hotel are taking donations.