Teenage girl who was repeatedly sent home from hospital with painkillers for her ‘migraines’ is told she has just weeks to live

At 19 years old, Ella-Louise Moroney must be enjoying the carefree years of early adulthood, spending time with family and friends and looking to the future.

Instead, the Peterborough teenager faces a devastating diagnosis that his doctors nearly missed.

Just a month ago, the former first-year employee was told he had an aggressive, cancerous brain tumor and had only a few weeks to live without emergency surgery.

And his path to diagnosis was far from simple.

Ms Moroney, who had been suffering from persistent migraine pain for two months before her diagnosis, was sent home from hospital on two separate occasions; each visit ended with painkillers and other medications.

But when his mother insisted on further investigation, doctors performed a scan; This confirmed the family’s worst fears: a rapidly growing, highly malignant tumor in his frontal lobe.

But even after finding the tumor, Ms. Moroney said doctors tried to send her home once again.

To make matters worse, her tumor is so rare that neither Ms. Moroney’s consultant nor her oncologist had encountered it before, making treatment particularly difficult.

Her sister Deanne Moroney has now started a petition. The GoFundMe will help cover the fitting expenses he faces, from medical devices to traveling for the many appointments he needs.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ms Moroney described how her symptoms went away again and again, leading to a frightening and protracted medical ordeal that still has no end in sight.

He said: ‘I went to the hospital for the first time at the end of January because of the migraine I had been suffering from since last summer. I was sent home with sumatriptan, a medication that treats migraines.

‘I then went back to the same hospital the following Sunday and was sent again with Naproxen and another tablet for my pain.

‘Shortly after this I went to my partner’s house. His mother had cooked dinner for me and I literally couldn’t even look at the food.

‘I suddenly became confused and contacted my mother, who said something was wrong.

‘I eventually called 111 and went back to hospital that night.’

Even then, he said, doctors initially seemed ready to discharge him once again.

Ms. Moroney (pictured) has a Grade 4 atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) in the frontal lobe; an extremely rare, highly aggressive and fast-growing cancer in adults

It was learned that his situation was taken seriously after his mother requested a scan. But even after the scan revealed the brain tumor, Ms. Moroney said staff were still trying to send her home.

Ms Moroney said: ‘I was a patient in hospital and was brought into a side room for triage.

‘I was told I would be seen in the next 20 to 25 minutes and that a bunch of different doctors would be coming to see me.

‘My mum had to demand I have a scan because they were going to send me home again.

‘I was placed in a ward and one of the paralyzed nurses came to see me. That’s when we found out I had a brain tumor.

‘At this stage, doctors did not know that the tumor was cancerous because they did not perform a biopsy. They had only done a CT scan.

‘About half an hour later another nurse came to see me and said the hospital wanted to discharge me. However, at this point I was told I already had a tumor.

‘So my mother said: “No, he’s not going home.”

Ms Moroney (pictured) is determined to stay positive and has started collecting her eggs for later use

Ms Moroney, who chose not to name the hospital where she was first treated, was later transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where she received further care and received devastating news.

Ms Moroney said: ‘Doctors at Addenbrooke’s told me that unless I had surgery to remove the tumor as soon as possible I would have a month to live.’

‘I had surgery on February 17. I had a professor who performed my surgery, and on the morning of the surgery, he came to me and told me briefly: We have to go now because he is growing.

‘Luckily they removed most of the tumor.’

But a subsequent biopsy confirmed his worst fears.

Ms. Moroney has a Grade 4 atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT) in the frontal lobe; It is a highly aggressive and fast-growing cancer that is extremely rare in adults and mostly affects children under the age of five.

He said: ‘After surgery most of the tumor was removed but chemotherapy and radiotherapy are still very much needed.

‘The tumor is very rare and very rare for the young adults in my group. It is more common in children under five years of age.

Ms Moroney’s (pictured) family is facing mounting costs, including travel for treatment, ongoing medical costs and essential equipment such as a wheelchair to help her recover

‘The consultant also said that there are almost no documented cases, so treatment is quite difficult. They don’t have much information about my age range because they are normally very young kids.

‘The consultant said he had never encountered this type of tumor in his career. Both he and the oncologist who saw me had never seen this tumor in my age group before in their careers.

‘It’s very difficult news to take because there isn’t enough research on it, so it’s very difficult to sit back and accept the fact that we don’t know anything.’

He is currently preparing to begin intensive treatment at UCL Hospital in London, starting with eight weeks of chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy and then eight weeks of chemotherapy.

Ms Moroney, who is completing an apprenticeship in childcare, is determined to stay positive despite the seriousness of her condition.

She said: ‘I’m collecting my eggs at the moment. This means postponing chemotherapy and radiation. However, this treatment is expected to start in early April.

‘First I will have chemotherapy for eight weeks, then I will go to London for proton radiotherapy.

‘I try to joke about these things as much as I can because if not, there’s nothing else I can do.

‘I’m as optimistic as I can be because I know the doctors are doing everything they can and of course I’m getting the best treatment I can get.’

He says his migraine headaches have disappeared since his surgery, but he continues to deal with the physical effects of the operation.

She said: ‘I haven’t had a headache since I had the surgery, which is crazy, I’ve never had to take paracetamol for my headaches.

‘But as I’m still recovering from brain surgery, I’m still quite slow and my gait has changed quite a bit too. It’s like my knees are really messed up.

‘Some mornings I wake up to find my knees are in excruciating pain.’

Meanwhile, his family faces mounting costs, including travel for treatment, ongoing medical expenses and basic equipment like a wheelchair to help him recover.

Sister Deanne has since launched a GoFundMe appeal with a target of £9,000 to support him through treatment.

Deanne said: ‘I set up the fundraiser in the hope of raising some money to support Ella’s travel costs, medical expenses and things like her wheelchair.

‘We also want to raise awareness of brain cancer and we have almost reached our goal, for which we are very grateful. ‘There’s already support from a lot of people.’