Megan Armstrong’s hits emotional milestone

Jul 30 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

Megan’s dad Philip said: “When she started at Mickley there were big question marks over whether she would be alive when the other children were finishing at the school.

“To get to this point where she is moving up, it’s quite a defining moment.

“You sit back and think: ‘we are extremely lucky to have managed to get this far with Megan in relatively good health’.

“It makes you reflect on just how hard Megan has fought to beat this cancer.”

Mr Armstrong said the school had been in contact with medical experts to make sufficient allowances for Megan’s visual impairment and learning difficulties – problems she suffers as a result of the tumour.

“There has been a lot of work done on the fabric of the school to make it suitable for someone in Megan’s situation. Where it is a huge step in terms of Megan’s life, it’s worrying in terms of how she might cope with it. She’s going from a small school with about 45 pupils to a big one with 500 pupils so we are concerned but for her to be going to the school at all is a big moment for her.”

The nature of Megan’s tumour means it cannot be removed completely so the focus of her treatment has been containing the cancer.

“We are realistic about the fact we will have to switch on more chemotherapy at some point,” said Mr Armstrong.

“We are hopeful, not confident, that the tumour can be kept the same size. We want to make her life as normal as we can so she doesn’t think she’s different from other children.”