Rebecca's Story | Rhabdomyosarcoma | Stand Up To Cancer

Before Rebecca was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, she was like many sporty eight-year-olds. She enjoyed swimming and tumbling around at gymnastics.

In 2014, her parents noticed a swelling around her thigh and knee. But a week later a large bruise appeared on the back of her knee, so her dad took her to the GP. The doctor referred her to hospital for some more tests including an ultrasound. They had found a blood clot in her groin, a tumour in her thigh and a tumour in her knee.

A biopsy revealed it was rhabdomyosarcoma: soft tissue cancer found in the muscles, bones, soft tissue areas. Rebecca was confused about what had happened, she didn’t want to be like this.

After finding more tumours and realising the cancer had spread, doctors brought Rebecca in to start chemotherapy the next day. A few months later in July, Rebecca had leg surgery to remove the biggest tumour, but they couldn’t remove it all.

Rebecca was getting back to normal life but still had to have constant check-ups and scans. At the start of 2017, Rebecca found a lump in her leg at school. A biopsy followed the day after her 11th birthday and in February 2017, she got her scan results. She had relapsed.

A few months later, Rebecca went through more operations on her leg, due to her tumour being wrapped around the artery of her right thigh. She had to learn how to walk again, and from August until November she had radiotherapy on her whole leg. At the end of 2017, Rebecca was in remission again.

Rebecca is currently recovering from her latest surgery in March 2020, and her latest test results have been really positive. However, she is now in 12 weeks isolation at home due to the risk posed by the coronavirus.

Her family remain optimistic, with Rebecca already going through so much treatment. Her mother is hoping for the best as she enters her seventh year of treatment.

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