We sold our home to buy miracle cancer treatment
1, of Manchester, had weeks to live after cancer ravaged her. But spending £350,000 on revolutionary treatment in Germany resulted in an amazing recovery
It had been a wonderful holiday to see my newborn grandson in Australia. But within weeks my life fell apart. I developed a pain in my legs and a hospital visit revealed I had blood clots. I was given drugs to get rid of them, but they caused internal bleeding and I ended up in a ward bed.
The doctors wanted to find what had gone wrong and decided to do an endoscopy, putting a camera down my throat to find out just how bad the bleeding was.
It was then they discovered I had stage four stomach cancer.
I was stunned and in total disbelief, I had no pain, no symptoms. I felt fine except for my legs, so it didn’t sink in.
I went home in shock but then my legs started to turn black and I was rushed back to hospital where specialists told me I had to have an operation to remove a clot that was travelling around my body – or I could lose a limb.
As I was wheeled to theatre the nurse mentioned I also had cancer of the oesophagus. I was really confused and couldn’t take it in. While I recovered my husband Martin, 61, tried to find out exactly what was wrong with me.
We found out that the stomach cancer had spread to the liver, lungs lymph nodes and oesophagus. They said it was a very aggressive and that it was terminal. All they could offer was end-of-life care. I later found out they thought I would die in weeks.
Just a few weeks earlier I had been an active woman with a great job as an office manager. Now I was like a little old lady who couldn’t walk or even go to the toilet. My son Nicholas came over from Australia and took control. He found the Hallwang Clinic in Germany, the place where former Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell is heading for treatment for her lung cancer. He sent over my notes and they said they could treat me. Within weeks of my diagnosis I was heading to Germany in a campervan as I couldn’t fly because of my legs. The treatments they use are at the cutting edge of drug research and many are not available in the UK. Some are being trialled in a few places but at Hallwang they can prescribe them. But the treatment is very expensive. Keytruda is an immu- notherapy that works with the body to detect and fight cancer cells. It costs £17,500 each time – and I have had eight treatments.
Two patients might have stomach cancer but the tumours will be different.
So my DNA was sequenced and a peptide vaccine was specifically designed for me to attack my tumours. That costs £10,000 and I have had that treatment – which involves having an injection directly into my stomach – seven times.
All in all we have spent £350,000. We have sold our home, cashed in our pensions and Ifsyouswantstos helpsPaulineswiths thescostssofs treatmentsgostos gofundme.com/ paulinegahan people have been wonder ful by raising money. A friend bought our house for £220,000 and now rents it back to us. He’s been very, very kind. We managed to get £50,000 through fundraising, including £27,000 on our Go Fund Me site. My son sold his car and the rest has come from savings and pensions I was diagnosed with cancer in May and was told to look into hospices. Now the cancer has gone from around my body except for three small tumours in my liver. At first I thought they had mixed up the scans and it was somebody else’s. My oncologist was amazed. I can walk, go for meals with my friends, shower, everything. I am starting to think about Christmas and buying presents for my grandkids. I still need treatment and we are raising money for it. But I owe my life to the clinic.