{"id":426381,"date":"2026-02-15T03:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/426381\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T03:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:05:17","slug":"woman-diagnosed-with-anxiety-before-being-told-she-had-15-months-left-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/426381\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman diagnosed with anxiety before being told she had ’15 months left to live’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madi was told she had 15 to 18 months to live before undergoing surgery in the US\"Madi<\/p>\n

Madi was diagnosed with a one-in-three million cancer after her symptoms were mistaken for anxiety(Image: Nicola Foster\/SWNS)<\/p>\n

A woman was diagnosed with adrenal cancer<\/a>, the same as Lorna Luxe’s husband, and told she had months left to live after her symptoms were originally mistaken for anxiety. Madi Foster, 20, was “physically fit” but began to feel breathless and had less energy at age 17.<\/p>\n

Her mum, Nicola Foster, 51, took her to the GP, but they claim they were told Madi was suffering from anxiety and depression. Madi’s symptoms<\/a> persisted, and she started to complain of back pain<\/a> and began “sweating buckets”. She was eventually blue-lighted to Stafford Hospital, Staffordshire, and they found her spleen was enlarged because of 15cm tumour<\/a> wrapped around it.<\/p>\n

A biopsy at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, confirmed it was adrenocortical carcinoma<\/a>. This is a one-in-a-million cancer with odds of one-in-three million for people in Madi’s age bracket.<\/p>\n

Influencer Lorna Luxe<\/a> recently announced her husband, John Andrews, died on Thursday following his long battle with stage four adrenal cancer. Lorna, 43, confirmed John died aged 64 “at home in his own bed”.<\/p>\n

For Madi, she had the 2kg tumour removed, but when her abdomen filled with fluid following the operation, she went into septic shock. She only just pulled through.<\/p>\n

\"Madi<\/p>\n

Madi was “physically fit” but started to become easily breathless and had a lack of energy at 17<\/p>\n

The family found out Madi’s cancer had returned in February 2024 and was in her abdomen and liver. She was told there was nothing more they could do and told she had 15 to 18 months to live.<\/p>\n

But parents Nicola and Craig, 50, refused to give up hope and found doctors in Maryland, in the US, who would operate. Strangers have donated \u00a345,000 to fund Madi’s travel and accommodation, and she underwent her first surgery last year.<\/p>\n

Nicola, who works in medical sales, from Stafford, Staffordshire, said: “Madi constantly defies the odds. They didn’t presume a 20-year-old would have this diagnosis. It’s one-in-three million for her age group.”<\/p>\n

Madi added: “It\u2019s given us all hope again, when we thought there wasn\u2019t any. My plan is to get well through the treatment they\u2019re offering at the NIH and go on to study medicine, particularly oncology, and help other people as I have been through cancer myself. I\u2019ve been calling my trip here a holiday because I\u2019ve been unable to leave the country for so long and the fact that it\u2019s such a positive experience being here too.”<\/p>\n

\"Madi<\/p>\n

Madi Foster, 20 and mum Nicola Foster, 51<\/p>\n

Madi’s symptoms first started when she was a teenager<\/p>\n

Madi says she was a fit teenager playing for Stafford Rugby Club when her symptoms started in 2021. Nicola said: “We noticed she’d get breathless and lacked energy. We took her to the GP. She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. They wanted to put her on antidepressants.”<\/p>\n

Madi also complained of back pain, but doctors put it down to a urinary infection. She was also diagnosed with a high heart rate and put on medication to slow it down.<\/p>\n

Madi started to feel better again, but in June 2023, she became “pretty ill”. Nicola recalled: “She was sweating buckets and complaining of back pain.” But they were told it was a kidney infection again and sent home. Madi continued to deteriorate, and Nicola phoned for an ambulance and was taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Madi's<\/p>\n

Madi’s symptoms were mistaken for anxiety<\/p>\n

The moment Madi was told it was cancer<\/p>\n

Madi was admitted, and a consultant spotted a large mass on her ultrasound scan. Nicola said: “Her spleen was actually wrapped around the 15cm tumour and was being pushed and squashed.<\/p>\n

“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. We looked to see what they were and all four were pretty horrific.”<\/p>\n

A biopsy then confirmed it was adrenocortical carcinoma – a cancer of the adrenal glands. Nicola said: “Madi was grateful that she had a diagnosis – that it all made sense.”<\/p>\n

In September 2023, Madi underwent an operation to remove the tumour. Nicola said: “It was massive. There was no cancer anywhere else. She recovered relatively well.”<\/p>\n

But after complications with the surgery Madi went into septic shock when her abdomen filled with five litres fluid in November 2023. Nicola said: “We were told it was highly likely she wasn’t going to survive. She went into emergency surgery. She 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.”<\/p>\n

\"Madi<\/p>\n

Madi Foster walking after septic shock<\/p>\n

How surgery in the US saved her<\/p>\n

Madi was unable to go through chemotherapy during that time, and at a check-up scan in February 2024, they found out the cancer had returned. Nicola said: “They told me there was nothing else they could do. She was classed as stage four. She had 15 to 18 months to live.”<\/p>\n

Madi was eventually put on a chemotherapy drug to slow down the growth of her tumours, but Nicola refused to give up and started researching other options. She found out about the National Institutes of Health in Maryland – which is funded by the US government for its research – through a Facebook<\/a> group.<\/p>\n

Nicola said: “They wanted to do whatever they could to save Madi’s life. They also discovered there was a tumour in her back.”<\/p>\n

Madi flew out to America and had her first surgery to relieve pressure on her spine on August 19, 2024. She had an operation to remove half her liver and the tumours on August 27, 2024 – followed by radiation on her spine.<\/p>\n

Nicola said: “She’s got such a positive attitude. She’s never cried. She’s not let it upset her.” Nicola says the support on their fundraiser for Madi has been “phenomenal” and strangers and friends have donated \u00a345,000 for her ongoing treatment: www.gofundme.com\/f\/madi-acc-warrior<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Madi was told she had 15 to 18 months to live before undergoing surgery in the US Madi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[22068,847,102,2196,134714,1906,6623,6633,8083,223,2535,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-426381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-back-pain","9":"tag-cancer","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-hospitals","12":"tag-life-in-the-uk","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-mentalhealth","15":"tag-national-institutes-of-health","16":"tag-prescriptions","17":"tag-royal-family","18":"tag-teenagers","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}