A little help from my friends
I’d be dead if it wasn’t for their incredible fundraising efforts
It was bad news, I could just feel it.
Sitting in the doctor’s office with my friend Adam, then 28, he smiled reassuringly at me. For months, I’d been poorly. At work, I’d struggled to keep my eyes open, and constantly felt sick. I ran my own flooring business, assumed I’d just been overdoing things.
But, after I’d collapsed at home in January last year, my GP had referred me for tests. And now I was facing the results.
‘The cancer is back,’ he said. My heart sank. I’d already battled and beaten breast cancer twice before.
‘I’ll fight it again,’ I said, determined – but the doctor didn’t look convinced.
‘I’m really sorry,’ he said. ‘This time, there’s no cure.’
Cancerous cells had been found in my left breast. But they’d also spread to my lungs, lymphatic system and bones.
He thought that, at most, I had six months to live.
But, as the devastating news sank in, I was determined to prove the doctors wrong.
I have to fight this, I told myself.
I was given medication to try to delay the spread of the cancer.
But, by the August, I was vomiting about a dozen times a night.
Scans soon revealed that the cancer was now in my spine and brain, too.
‘Maybe you should consider going into a hospice now,’ a specialist suggested.
But, if I was going to die, I really wanted to be at home, surrounded by the people I loved.
Single, I had no children. So Adam and another good friend Jayne, then 48, agreed to come and stay with me.
Within weeks, the pain became unbearable. I was prescribed morphine, but it still wasn’t enough.
I was in so much agony, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I also started suffering hallucinations and seizures.
Tests revealed the tumours in my skull were causing swelling, triggering the fits.
I spent days on end asleep, only waking for a few minutes now and then.
‘Please don’t let me die,’ I begged Jayne.
Then, on one of the rare occasions I was awake, Jayne explained that she’d been doing some research.
‘There’s a clinic in Germany, called the Hallwang,’ she said. ‘They offer immunotherapy to fight cancer.’
Jayne explained that it was not offered in the UK for my type of cancer.
Desperate, I was willing to try anything.
‘Do what it takes to get me there,’ I whispered.
My condition just got worse in the coming weeks, and I was convinced I didn’t have long left.
Then, one night in November, Jayne and Adam came and sat by my side.
‘We’re taking you to Germany,’ Adam told me.
I was too ill to ask questions. All I could do was nod.
The drive to the airport, and the flight in the air ambulance were a blur. The next thing I knew, I was at the clinic.
Within days, I began my
He thought that, at most, I had six months to live
immunotherapy treatment, which works by boosting the body’s natural defences to help it fight cancer.
Straightaway, I started to feel stronger. I felt movement in my legs, and was even propped up in bed.
Adam and Jayne explained that clients had raised the initial £12,000 to get me to Germany, along with money raised from a Gofundme page.
I was blown away by everyone’s generosity. Because of them, I still had a fighting chance.
Eleven days after arriving in Germany, I was able to take a few steps using a walking frame.
Amazing.
And, with each passing day I just got stronger.
Incredibly, I was allowed home for Christmas.
I couldn’t fly without nurses, so Adam drove a camper van
all the way to Germany to collect me. Then we drove all the way home.
The two of us and Jayne spent Christmas Day together.
Adam cooked, and we just enjoyed ourselves. None of us had believed I’d even still be here so we felt blessed.
The cancer was starting to reduce, but I needed a lot more treatment.
So, in January, I headed back to Germany.
Treatment cost a whopping £28,000 a week, though, so I remortgaged my home, used my savings, sold my car, cashed in my work pension and put £60,000 on credit cards.
‘I have nothing to lose,’ I told Adam and Jayne. ‘My life is priceless.’
Friends also arranged fundraisers, as well as keeping my business afloat.
After three months in Germany, I was well enough to come home.
Back at work, customers were amazed by the difference in me.
‘You’ve been given a burst of life,’ someone said.
I’m due to go back to Germany for more treatment every three months. So far it’s cost a staggering 371,000 euros (£323,000) – such a lot of money for one person to fund.
But recent results have revealed that my breast cancer has gone, and there’s no signs of it in my lymphatic system.
My skull cancer’s been reduced by 80%, and two of my nine liver tumours have shrunk by 50%. The masses in my bones have reduced, too. It’s nothing short of a miracle. This time last year, I was at death’s door.
I will never be able to thank my friends enough. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.
I want to give people hope that cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence. If only we had access to different treatments in the UK, more people would have a fighting chance. I’m living proof that it can work.
I’m now planning a big celebration on Christmas Eve for my 50th birthday – something I wasn’t sure I’d see!
It’s been one heck of a battle, but I’m still here.
And I won’t go down without a bl**dy good fight!
It’s nothing short of a miracle – I was at death’s door