WHEN Shirley Kennedy noticed her 2-year-old daughter entering a trance for the first time, she would never have believed she was suffering a brain seizure.

Amy wasn't shaking, but was turning her head to the left, as if trying to look behind her. Then her eyes rolled back into her head.

``She went into a state of fixation,'' Mrs Kennedy said.

``Friends were saying she was just playing, but I knew something was very wrong. I started getting worried when it kept happening.''

Concerned and confused, Mrs Kennedy took Amy to The Children's Hospital at Westmead, where she was referred to a neurologist.

Frustrated by the four-month waiting list to see the specialist, Mrs Kennedy returned to hospital the next day.

``They sent Amy for a CAT scan and as they were putting the needle in her hand she had a seizure,'' Mrs Kennedy said.

Amy had a ganglioglioma brain tumour and needed surgery immediately.

``I couldn't believe what was happening,'' Mrs Kennedy said. ``How and why did she have this? I wanted them to take it out right then and give it to me.''

``I kept praying and floated through everything, trying to pay attention, even though nothing was sinking in.''

The tumour was removed during a four-hour operation and apart from annual scans, Amy is now a happy and healthy 14-year-old.

Mrs Kennedy, however, has not forgotten feeling helpless during the ordeal.

``The doctors and nurses were amazing, but we couldn't be ringing them every five minutes. We didn't know anything about brain tumours and hadn't met anyone who had been through it.''

She has appealed for donations to brain tumour support organisations during International Brain Tumour Awareness Week, November 1-7.

Details: www.btaa.org.au.