A heartbroken mother has told of her agony after medics dismissed her daughter’s terminal cancer for anxiety.
Madi Foster, from Stafford in Staffordshire, was an otherwise healthy and ‘physically fit’ teenager.
But at just 17-years-old she suddenly started to become breathless easily and lacked energy.
Worried by the unexpected change, she visited the GP with her mum Nicola Foster, 51. Yet she claims she was told it was merely anxiety and depression and prescribed antidepressants.
Madi Foster, from Stafford in Staffordshire, was an otherwise healthy and ‘physically fit’ teenager. But at just 17-years-old she suddenly started to become breathless easily and lacked energy
It was only after her symptoms worsened two years later in June 2023, suffering back pain and ‘sweating buckets’ that medics in A&E spotted her spleen was enlarged.
Scans confirmed she had a rare and aggressive cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma — cancer of the adrenal gland, which sits beside the kidneys and is responsible for regulating essential functions like metabolism and the immune system.
Despite having the tumour removed and surviving septic shock, in February the 20-year-old was shockingly told her cancer — which affects one in a million people — had spread and she had just 15 to 18 months to live.
Recalling Madi’s traumatic ordeal, Mrs Foster said: ‘Madi also complained of back pain but doctors put it down to a urine infection.
‘She was diagnosed with a high heart rate and put on medication to slow it down.’
Worried by the unexpected change, she visited the GP with her mum Nicola Foster (pictured), 51. Yet she claims she was told it was merely anxiety and depression and prescribed antidepressants
Unlike many other cancers, doctors are not sure what exactly puts someone at an increased risk of suffering the disease. There are no known risk factors. This is partly because the disease is so rare that research on it has not been as extensive as other cancers
After falling ill in June 2023 she was again told it was a kidney infection and sent home, Mrs Foster claimed.
But after she deteriorated further, she was taken to Stafford Hospital by ambulance.
‘They took a scan of her back and saw her spleen was enlarged,’ she added.
‘Her spleen was actually wrapped around the 15cm tumour and was being pushed and squashed.
‘She was rushed up to Stoke and various blood tests confirmed it was cancer. They believed it was one of four rare cancers. It was horrific.’
Once a biopsy confirmed it was adrenocortical carcinoma, she underwent an operation to remove the tumour in September.
But after complications with the surgery Madi went into septic shock when her abdomen filled with five litres fluid in November 2023.
It was only after her symptoms worsened two years later in June 2023, suffering back pain and ‘sweating buckets’ that medics in A&E spotted her spleen was enlarged
While Madi has since undertaken chemotherapy to help slow the growth of her tumours, her parents also found surgeons at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland , US who were willing to operate. Pictured, Madi recovering after suffering septic shock
Mrs Foster said: ‘We were told it was highly likely she wasn’t going to survive. She went into emergency surgery and had to have heart restarted three times that night.
‘She was multiple organ failure. She pulled though after two weeks and came home after four weeks.’
Unable to undertake chemotherapy during her recovery, a check up in February found the cancer had spread to her abdomen and liver.
Unlike many other cancers, doctors are not sure what exactly puts someone at an increased risk of suffering the disease. There are no known risk factors.
This is partly because the disease is so rare that research on it has not been as extensive as other cancers.
According to Cancer Research UK just 220 people on average are diagnosed with adrenal gland cancer, which includes adrenocortical carcinoma, every year.
The figure stands at around 800 in the US.
The glands are responsible for helping regulate a person’s heart rate and other functions related to the cardiovascular system.
They also help activate a person’s ‘fight-or-flight’ response during high-stress situations.
Scans confirmed she had a rare and aggressive cancer, adrenocortical carcinoma — which strikes just one in a million people. Despite having the tumour removed and surviving septic shock, in February the 20-year-old was shockingly told her cancer had spread and she had just 15 to 18 months to live
The disease is thought to develop when the DNA of cells in the gland experience an unhealthy change and begins to replicate — though the exact cause is still unclear.
Like other cancers, malignant cells from the adrenal glands can break off and be carried by the circulatory system to another part of the body.
This causes cancer to spread, making it harder to treat and significantly more deadly.
Studies suggest just 15 per cent of patients whose cancer has spread survive beyond five years.
While Madi has since undertaken chemotherapy to help slow the growth of her tumours, her parents also found surgeons at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Maryland, US who were willing to operate.
She has already undergone a first surgery on August 19 to relieve pressure on her spine.
A further operation to remove half her liver and the tumours in planned for August 27 followed by radiation on her spine.
A GoFundMe page set up in June to help fund the cost of her travel and accommodation has also already raised over £45,000.
Madi said: ‘It’s given us all hope again, when we thought there wasn’t any.
‘My plan is to get well through the treatment they’re offering at the NIH and go on to study medicine particularly oncology, and help other people as I have been through cancer myself.
‘I’ve been calling my trip here a holiday because I’ve been unable to leave the country for so long and the fact that it’s such a positive experience being here too.’
Mrs Foster added: ‘She’s got such a positive attitude. She’s never cried.
‘She’s not let it upset her.’
