Doctors missed cancer 12 times, now we’ll sell house to fund my treatment

Fight to raise £300k for life-saving care

that bridge. It’s my biggest fear. We’ve remortgaged already but if this treatment doesn’t work it’s the home our children are growing up in. All of their memories of me are locked up in there – I’d rather exhaust every other avenue before we go down that route.”

Sally was diagnosed with advanced stage four bowel cancer in May 2015, having been told for four years she was suffering irritable bowel syndrome.

She had visited doctors 12 times complaining about aches and pains but by the time the cancer was picked up, her bowel was completely obstructed by a massive tumour.

Sally had emergency surgery to remove the growth and a foot-long part of her intestines. She said: “I was expecting them to say it was IBS again but an anaesthetist came out and started talking about surgery before the doctor had given my diagnosis.

“My whole world fell apart. I remember saying, ‘I’ve got four kids, I can’t have cancer’. Two hours later I went for emergency surgery.”

Painful

However, the cancer had already spread to her liver, both lungs, lymph nodes and peritoneum.

Sally was fitted with a colostomy bag and began painful NHS treatments. But doctors said her illness was terminal and gave her three years to live.

Liam said: “I was always the one dragging her to the GP. Every time, they sent her away with laxatives to ease what they said was IBS. She was convinced it was more serious but I persuaded her to trust the doctors.

“Now I know how wrong I was. Not once was she physically examined. The NICE guidelines at the time said it wasn’t possible for people as young as Sally to get bowel cancer.

“Me, the kids and all of our family really need Sally in our lives.

“I cannot imagine facing it alone without the love of my life. I keep telling her if I could take it off her, I would – they need their mum more. I wish it was me rather than her.”

At first they hid the diagnosis from their children George, two, and Maisy, six, and boys Adam, 11, and Ryan, 12, from Sally’s previous relationship, but were finally forced to confront it. Sally said: “The youngest know that Mum’s got cancer but they don’t really understand. Now that he’s seen me being sick so often, George’s favourite game is hurling into a bucket, pretending he’s poorly and needing a doctor.

“Then Maisy comes along and pretends to be the doctor and it makes me heartbroken seeing him pretending to be sick. But to him that’s the norm.

“Maisy understands but she likes to pretend cancer doesn’t exist. She’s going through a stage when we can’t say the C-word. We just have to pretend Mum doesn’t have it. We’re going along with it, until she’s ready to talk. She was still an innocent little girl, believing in Santa, when all of a sudden Mum has this disease that could kill her. It doesn’t happen in a six-year-old’s world.”

While Sally is bed- bound, Liam continues work at the asbestos consultancy they ran together, before she was forced to hire a replacement.

Focused

He said even if they sold the firm, their home and all of their other assets, they would not have enough to fund the entire treatment programme.

Sally is among an increasing number of Brits – including ex-Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell, who has lung cancer – admitted to the Hallwang Clinic for procedures not available on the NHS.

She said: “There’s been talk about getting palliative tive nurses involved. So I know what hat the NHS are preparing me e for and having other optionsns is what is helping me stay focused and positive.””

Liam added: d: “Some patients have goneone into remission after treatment at the Hallwang ang Clinic. I t ’ s wherer e L Leahe a h Bracknell started tarted her treatment not t long ago.”

Meanwhile,, another cancerer patient who o was written off by British doctors was almost cleared of the disease after visiting the Hallwang Clinic.

In May this year, Pauline Gahan was told she had stomach cancer that had already spread to her liver, lungs, oesophagus and lymph nodes.

The 60-year-old from Denton, near Manchester, was told there was no hope of a cure but her family refused to accept this.

They came across the Hallwang Clinic and after four visits for immunotherapy, scans revealed the primary tumour in her stomach had gone.

There was also no sign of cancer in her oesophagus, lungs or lymph nodes – and two small tumours in her liver had shrunk significantly.

Pauline said: “These results are hard to believe. Meanwhile, the fight goes on until every last trace of the cancer has gone.” Her case will give fresh hope to Sally and Liam as they look to many more Christma Christmases together – and beyond.

Liam said: “We just don’t know but pe perhaps my little George will have his mum taking him to his first day at school – and hopefully university too.”