Madison: Going Above and Beyond Cancer
Today, 13 children and teens like Madison will be diagnosed with a brain tumor. This holiday season, give them the gift of a cure. Donate today at curethekids.org/givenow.
Madison W. was 16 and in the spring of her sophomore year in high school when she awoke on a Saturday morning (March 19, 2016) with a severe headache and nausea.
Her head had been hurting for about 3 weeks, but not bad enough to mention to her mother more than a couple of times. After she began vomiting, her mother Jennifer took her to the emergency room where a CT scan revealed a brain tumor. She was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital of Atlanta where her tumor was removed on March 22, 2016.
A biopsy revealed that she has Grade III anaplastic ependymoma, which is the malignant form of a brain cancer that affects the cells lining the brain, its ventricles, and the spinal cord.
Madison, a scholar athlete who was in top academic classes in her high school and had already lettered in track and in competition cheer, would not be able to return to classes and her golf team for the remainder of her sophomore year.
Madison and her mom made the temporary move from their home in Georgia to MD Anderson in Houston to undergo daily proton radiation treatments for over 7 weeks. She lost about half of her hair and while a good bit has grown back in, she will have a permanent bald spot the size of a baseball.
More than this hair loss, Madison continues to suffer daily side effects from the radiation to her brain. Her head has not stopped hurting for over a year, she suffers from physical and mental fatigue, blurred vision if she reads more than a paragraph at a time, nausea, loss of appetite and anxiety attacks. She has balance deficits and changes in strength on the right side of her body.
Since Madison’s form of brain cancer is malignant, she has a 30% change of it returning anytime throughout her lifetime — even 20 or 30 years from now. She will undergo regularly scheduled MRIs and lumbar punctures for life.
Throughout it all, Madison has maintained a positive can-do attitude: she is back at her high school again and will graduate on time with her class. She is currently in the International Baccalaureate program and just lettered in golf at the end of her junior year.
She will live with some permanent side effects from the radiation and will need medication adjustments in the years to come; however, this does not stop Madison and she doesn’t let it get in the way of being a “normal” teen. She has already made the competition cheer team for her senior year, is continuing this year with more IB classes as well as dual-enrolling in two college classes.
This journey has caused her to have a desire to be an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spine surgeries or a neuro-oncologist — but she dreams also of being a recording artist. She plays piano and guitar and has written an entire album of original songs, one of which is about her journey with a cancerous brain tumor and treatments. This incredibly passionate young lady also has a soap-making business, donating proceeds to children’s cancer organizations.
While her journey thus far is short compared to others, her story is not over. This young lady is focused and determined and we look forward to cheering her on in this next chapter of her life!
Help children like Madison thrive with a year-end gift to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Donate today at curethekids.org/givenow.
