Saving Sarah's life
Hi there everyone, let me tell you a little bit about me & my story. My name is Sarah monk I am 37 years old. I was diagnosed with primary breast cancer in 2015 at the young age of 35.I underwent chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, reconstruction and then radiotherapy and despite all this treatment which causes gruelling side effects which include sickness,mouth sores,joint pain,ulcers,diahorea,fatigue,overwhelming tiredness and being admitted to hospital on numerous occasions due to these side effects,I was told after finishing radiotherapy that the cancer had spread to my lungs which is now secondary breast cancer that is incurable and life limiting. I have also gone through treatments that aim to keep the tumours from spreading and increasing in size,unfortunatley these injections and drugs have not been effective so therefore I am no longer on these. I got a offer from a drugs trial company to have kadcyla (chemotherapy infusions)which the nhs do not fund due to cost unfortunately after only 1 cycle I had problems with my heart and was admitted back into hospital,I was told that this chemo and the last chemo had taken a toll on my heart and caused atrial fibrillation and damage I'm now on more medication to help stabilise my heart beat and rhythm. My life revolves around hospital appointments,scans and always followed by more bad news. My last scan results have been a massive blow to me and my family as the recent news is that it has now spread to my ovaries. The next step would be oral chemotherapy which is a lifetime drug and then more drugs to combat the side effects. The hardest thing about this is being a parent and having to explain to my 10 year old autistic daughter that mummy is going to die. I was given 2 to 5 years to live with treatment and I'm now well into my 2nd year. I have researched into the hallwang clinic in Germany and even spoken to the oncologist who believe they can help me and even talk about full remission. This gives me the only hope for me my daughter and my family. Below you will find a link which has all the information about the clinic. This type of immunotherapy treatment comes with a very high price tag. This is the reason I am asking for donations as every little helps.My daughter has struggled to deal with my illness for the last 2 years and has had to have counselling. In the UK the nhs don't seem to care and I feel that I have been sent home to die and told to make the most of my time left with my family. I cannot and will not just give up and leave my daughter, partner and family behind without a fight knowing there is treatment out there that can help. My daughter needs me she needs her mum and her carer to help,love and comfort her on a daily basis. My partner Lee has been my rock throughout the last 2 gruelling years & my parents Kevin & Wendy have been at every single appointment,chemo session and scan. I have the full support of my family and friends and for this I'm extremely lucky. I know that this is a lot to ask of people but I am desperate for any donation large or small to get me to the Hallwang clinic for treatment as I am needed as a mother,carer,daughter and wife and my family are devastated at the prospect of life without me. Parents should not bury their children and my child should not have to bury me at the young innocent age of 10. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
I have kept a blog on Facebook about my cancer journey from diagnosis to present and the group is called my battle. Please feel free to join.
Sarah Monk
http://.www.hallwang-clinic.com/#private-cancer-oncology-clinic
