A teenager has shared how she remains positive and keeps smiling despite living with terminal cancer. Margaret Adcock, known as Maggie, was diagnosed alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma on May 27, 2022 at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, which is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer in children.
The 17 year old was told that the cancer has spread to her bone marrow and possibly her ovaries. Maggie undertook chemotherapy and by Christmas the scans showed that Maggie had control of the disease. However, on January 26, after she started maintenance chemotherapy, Maggie developed a severe headache and further scans showed doctors that the cancer had spread to her brain.
After being told that she may only have a weeks or months left to live Maggie is planning to pursue her love of travel and see the world in the time she has left. Despite the difficult news Maggie has remained strong and positive reports Derbyshire Live.
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She said: "I’m a big believer in positive outlooks giving positive outcomes. If I can’t control my cancer, I can control how I feel. That’s how I stay smiling.
"I owe a lot of my willpower to my parents and how they raised me, especially my mum who is big into mindfulness. They are both very calm people and have reminded me to stay hopeful throughout this journey and to never stop fighting.
"My friend group is incredibly supportive too, and have been there from the beginning, always making sure I’m okay but never treating me differently which is exactly what I wanted for normality."
Maggie continued: "They never fail to remind me how strong I am, and how I can get through it easily. My partner, Louis, has also been with me throughout this whole whirlwind which has been incredibly tough.
"Being in a young relationship while battling cancer is never what I imagined, however, I am so grateful to have him by my side supporting me. He has shown me love when I have felt awful from chemo and didn’t want to be seen by anyone - and I wouldn’t have it any other way."
Maggie's parents and her older half-brother are in awe of her bravery. Mum, Lyn, said: "Maggie's a very positive person and she always focuses on the day and being there.
"She always said to us, what happened yesterday is yesterday and today is a new day. The first thing Maggie told us when the doctors said you might only have weeks or months to live is that 'I'm not giving up, I'm not prepared, I'm not going to die.
"It's changed our lives forever, it's awful, there are no words to explain. We're devastated and Maggie is my only daughter, so it's really hard."
Maggie, from from Hilton, in Derbyshire, first became ill in April 2022 after she returned from a trip to France with pain in her left hip. The GP thought it could be muscular, but after painkillers did not help Maggie was referred to a physio who suspected it may be growing pains.
However, the teenager's symptoms developed over the next few weeks, and Maggie begun to get nosebleeds and bruises. Despite her discomfort Maggie continued to study and put the pain down to A-level pressure.
On May 26 Maggie fell very ill at school. Lyn explained: "We had a phone call from her teacher at school who said that Maggie wasn't well and asked if someone could come and pick her up.
"Already then I had the instinct that something wasn't right. I said to Maggie that I would ring 111 and she no, you're overreacting mummy, I'll just go to sleep I just need something to eat.
"This is the kind of person she is, she's having to endure that pain but she wanted to just carry on." Lyn decided to phone 111 and she advised her to take Maggie to A&E straight away where the teen had blood tests.
Doctors explained they were concerned about the blood tests and kept Maggie in for 24 hours for observation. Lyn woke up at 2am that night with an overwhelming need to see Maggie.
When she arrived Lyn was told that Maggie had collapsed that night beside her bed and was transferred to children's intensive care in Nottingham with suspected leukaemia. Lyn said: "She was very very poorly and doctors told us to prepare for the worst.
"We consented for Maggie to have emergency chemotherapy for leukaemia, but from there, an investigation was done and a bone marrow biopsy confirmed that it was alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma." Maggie was given chemotherapy and moved to the oncology ward after stabilising, where it became clear the cancer had spread to her bone marrow.
Maggie received nine rounds of intensive chemo and before Christmas, the family were told that her cancer was under control. Unfortunately, on January 26, an MRI scan confirmed that the cancer had spread to her brain. Maggie has sadly been given a terminal diagnosis.
Lyn said: "We just couldn't believe it. Just four weeks ago we were told it was under control then suddenly we had this news." Maggie's family are fundraising to help the teenager access medical treatment in America after she didn't qualify for a UK trial drug.
Her GoFundMe page reads: "There is a small chance that this will be beneficial. That very little chance is what gives us hope. We will also explore any open-label trial that is available in the world. We know that in America there has been an open-label trial for positive fusion alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma."
Maggie hopes to spend what time she can travelling the world, and hopes that her story can inspire others to enjoy life and not take any moment for granted. She said: "My message is to live every day as it comes. Find and do things that genuinely bring you joy, no one's tomorrow is guaranteed. Be grateful for everything and you will find yourself enjoying everything a little bit more."
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