A 13-year-old boy came in for a two-week history of gradually progressive headache and vomiting. On examination, he was awake and alert, but had blurring of vision and a “blind spot” on the left side. When asked further, the patient said he couldn’t see some parts of his computer screen for a few months now. 

Brain MRI showed a large tumor in the occipital lobe, which explains why his vision is affected, since this is one of the areas of the brain that is responsible for vision. 

The patient underwent surgery to remove the tumor. The entire tumor was removed, and his vision gradually improved. The biopsy result was a pilocytic astrocytoma, a benign (non-cancerous) tumor. Since it was completely removed, there was no need to do chemotherapy or radiation therapy.