Howell Sixth-Grader Battling Cancer With Determination, Faith

In the summer of 2010, Madison Beggs was just like the other 10-year-olds who had just finished the fourth grade at . She was enjoying her vacation and traveling to the Carolinas with her family. 

Madison would soon be challenged immeasurably as a general illness developed into numbness on the left side of her body, resulting in a brain cancer diagnosis.

Despite the challenges of the prognosis, Madison and her family have kept a positive outlook through several operations, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

In an effort to help the family with their expenses a fundraising pasta dinner will be held Wednesday night at .

Challenges and Treatments

Madison's mother Mae said her daughter initially struggled with the chemo but showed early signs of having beat the cancer. 

"We were really rocking and rolling," Mae Beggs said. "She had really great scans in November and before that she had really good scans. I thought we were in the clear."

In February an MRI revealed the tumor had grown back and was deeper in her brain than it had been before. Beggs said with the new diagnosis her daughter has remained focused on her treatment and displays a maturity beyond her years. 

"Madi is the one who has been in control of all of her treatments and what she wants to do and what she doesn't want to do," she said. 

It is that maturity that her mother said has helped her get through some incredibly difficult times.

"She wasn't your normal kid that you would say baby talk to her and that's it," Beggs said. 

The bond between mother and daughter has helped both deal with unexpected effects of Madison's condition. With her last procedure Madison lost the ability to speak, but she and her mother are still able to communicate. "I know what she likes and what she doesn't like," she said. "It makes it a little bit easier."

The prognosis for Madison may not be great but that does not stop the family from keeping a positive outlook. "As a parent it's really hard," she said. "You want to find a solution, and you don't want to ever give up. At the same time you want to give her a quality of life.

"We are praying for that miracle. Everybody is."

Beggs said her family can only come together and rally around Madison.

"It's tough but you have to just push through it and you make the decisions the best that you can and you have to be strong," she said. "You have to try to make her feel better, try to make her comfortable as much as possible, and you keep the faith. That's what I've been doing."

Community Support

"The support from Land O'Pines and Middle School North has been really amazing," Beggs said.

"Everybody has just been really supportive. It is just an amazing community that we have." 

Even when things have been difficult she said the support has been a big help to the family. "It has been a tough road but it makes life easier with everybody supporting us and always wanting to know what's going on and how she's doing," she said. "Unfortunately this had to happen, but if we didn't have everybody behind us I don't know where we would be."

Beggs said she continues to believe that Madison will recover from this most recent challenge despite the odds. "Time heals all things. I firmly believe that," she said. "I said to her we did it before, we can do it again. We got you healthy before; we can do it again."

To learn more about Madison's story check out her Facebook page and her Caring Bridge website. In addition to the pasta dinner a  is also scheduled to be held later this month at LOP.