At the age of two, Maxwell was diagnosed with choroid plexus carcinoma, an extremely rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
In the spring of 2022 Maxwell began experiencing a number of troubling symptoms that led his parents to take him to the emergency room. A series of scans showed a large tumor growing on his brain. “The first time we saw the scan, we couldn’t even believe he was still alive,” said Maxwell’s parents Paul and Whitney. “The tumor was taking over half of his brain.” Within two days, Maxwell underwent high risk surgery. Since then, he has continued to defy all odds, earning himself the nickname “Mighty Max” for his strength and perseverance.
Despite nearly losing his life during surgery, Maxwell made it through and spent the next five days in the PICU. The weeks following were scary and unpredictable as he went through multiple procedures. Each time, there was uncertainty as to whether he would make it through. And yet, every time, his condition continued to improve. Through the encouragement of his sisters Maya and Ella, Maxwell began walking again just four weeks after surgery, something they weren’t sure he would even do again. “He’s a miracle,” said his parents.
As Maxwell recovered from surgery, his parents began to discuss treatment options with their doctor at CancerCare Manitoba. They were grateful for the opportunity to access the best treatment possible for this cancer in Cancer Care Manitoba without the need to travel out of the province. This combination of chemotherapy drugs would aggressively target the cancerous cells; however, the negative side effects for Maxwell would be significantly less than other combinations of chemotherapy. Still, his chance of survival was only 15 percent.