Looking ahead to brain surgery next week, parents from Portage la Prairie are asking for prayers for their 6-year-old daughter. 

Elizabeth Willson is six-years-old and has been feeling dizzy and nauseous for a couple of months.

"She's been having balance issues for a while and we just thought she would grow out of it but she didn't," says Katharina Willson, her mother.

After a few bouts of throwing up in the middle of the night with no fever, the Willsons got some anti-nauseous medicine. By the Christmas holidays, Katharina and her husband Richard thought to simply take Elizabeth into the emergency room. 

"We got in and the doctor did a bedside ultrasound on her stomach. To find out why she was getting sick they booked her for another ultrasound on her stomach, a hearing test, and a neurologist."

Nothing showed up on the hearing test or second ultrasound. However, after a few simple physical tests were done by the neurologist, the doctor wanted to book Elizabeth for an MRI.

"Initially they thought the MRI would be in March because by now getting into tests takes a little longer. Thankfully God knew that she needed to get in sooner so she got into her MRI on Monday morning."

Coming in from Portage, Elizabeth and her dad went to the Children's Hospital for the scan on February 1. Katharina was at work at the time. She's a teacher at a Christian school in Southport.

"Before she was even out of her MRI scan they were calling and wanted to see her the same day. My husband went after the scan and they told him that she has a lesion on her brain which is a simple term for a tumour."

Richard called his wife to tell her what the doctors found and Katharina found a ride into Winnipeg. The family has been there since. 

"The tumour is about the size of a lemon, just above her cerebellum. Next week on Tuesday, February 9, they're going into surgery first thing in the morning and it's going to be an eight-hour surgery if not longer," she says.

The plan is to remove the tumour from the inside out, according to Katharina. They are staying at the hospital until the surgery. 

"Please pray for peace and strength because this is not our first time at the Children's Hospital with a daughter," says Katharina.

The Willsons have unfortunately been down a similar road before, as four years ago they were at a Children's Hospital when their infant daughter passed away. 

The family is originally from Ontario and they have asked their home church here in Manitoba as well as back in Ontario to pray over them during this time of uncertainty. 

Katharina will not be going back to work until Elizabeth is stable, so there has been a GoFundMe page set up to help cover those costs.