Call it "mother's intuition," but Launceston mother Maddy McKenna knew something was wrong when her normally bubbly baby developed a lump on his belly.
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"Archie was only six and a half months old, and he had been a little bit fussy for a week," Ms McKenna said.
"Babies have leaps, and so I wasn't really concerned.
![Launceston mother Maddy McKenna is sharing her story to raise awareness for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. She is pictured with her daughter Hazel Stiboy. Picture by Phillip Biggs Launceston mother Maddy McKenna is sharing her story to raise awareness for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. She is pictured with her daughter Hazel Stiboy. Picture by Phillip Biggs](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/181418411/83c48cff-d3ab-42bf-9af2-26eee492a063.jpg/r0_0_5000_3333_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"But when I saw a little lump on his belly, I thought to myself, 'That's weird,' so I took him to the hospital."
The shocking diagnosis came after several rounds of tests, including an ultrasound.
"Within 10 seconds of the ultrasound, the technician went and got a doctor, who said we had to go to emergency because they found an eight centimetre by eight centimetre mass on his liver," Ms McKenna said.
"Alarm bells weren't really ringing yet. You always know it could be cancer, but when that is a possibility, I didn't want my mind to go there.
"At first, no one actually said 'cancer' - they only used the words 'mass' and 'tumour'. It didn't click.
"After some more blood tests, they told us Archie had a hepatoblastoma, a rare liver tumour that had already spread to his lungs and lymph nodes."
Three nights later, Ms McKenna and Archie flew to Melbourne, where he started his treatment straight away.
"He had an MRI, and the doctors told me it was actually a Rhabdoid tumor," she said.
"Rhabdoid tumours have a 30 per cent survival rate if they have not metastasized.
"Archie's already had."
![Archie during his stay at the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital, and Archie with his siblings before his diagnosis. Pictures supplied Archie during his stay at the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital, and Archie with his siblings before his diagnosis. Pictures supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/181418411/e5963eb6-984b-4259-b0f8-c6c51853d325.png/r0_0_1542_942_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms McKenna stayed in Melbourne for three months to care for Archie.
"Archie had three rounds of chemo he started getting temperatures, which is alarm bells for a cancer child," she said.
"So they had to keep checking for infections.
"When the doctor walked in and told me there was no infection, I said, 'It's the cancer, isn't it?' And she said, 'Yeah'. And I just kind of remember how I screamed."
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The doctors told Ms McKenna and her family to say their goodbyes to Archie.
"Cancer does not only affect the patient. It affects the whole family," she said.
"The hardest thing I have ever done was tell my son he needed to say goodbye.
"He was colouring in at the time and said, 'Can't we see him tomorrow?' How do you tell a four-year-old that's not possible?"
Archie passed away in his mother's arms.
This September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and Ms McKenna and her two children, Hudson and Harlow, are walking 100 kilometres in honour of Archie.
"I just felt like I needed to do something to not just be sitting at home," she said.
"I'm one person, and the only people I see really advocating for childhood cancer are oncology parents.
"I'd like that to change.
"Even just sharing things really helps to create awareness. It doesn't have to be about donations, though they help."
To donate, head to https://www.betterchallenge.org.au/madaline-mckenna.
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