Naomi's Cancer fight
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Hi, thanks so much for visiting this page!
My name is Nichol and Naomi is my fiancé Naomi is 39. In March 2016, Naomi was diagnosed with a rare gynaecological squamous cell cancer - a stage 2b/3, 5cm tumour. Naomi has since undergone radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. Treatment appeared to be successful, but the cancer is persistent and the latest scan shows the tumour has grown back.
In terms of future treatment, the NHS have only been able to offer a radical full pelvic exenteration. This would involve removing all organs in the pelvic cavity and would leave Naomi with external colostomy and urostomy bags. This operation would still only give Naomi a 50/50 chance of survival. There are other options to explore such as immunotherapy, clinical trials, treatments abroad, nutrition and alternative medicines, but these all come at a cost. We have paid for some alternative treatments so far but we are coming to the end of our personal available funds.
Naomi's sick pay has come to an end and we are raising funds to continue her treatment. Please read our full story below because it will give you a detailed insight into Naomi's personal battle and how far we have come with our research into alternative therapies and treatments which we believe will also benefit others who have cancer.......
The Full Story
I first set eyes on Naomi on 9th Oct 2015. Everything I had imagined about my perfect soulmate beamed out of Naomi like a halo as she walked towards me on the platform at Beeston Station. I knew this was it ... that feeling that people talk about when you just know they are the one, well I felt it! We discussed our future and the places we wanted to visit together. We were like every other couple in their honeymoon period as they call it. Life was perfect!
But then on Valentine's Day 2016, our lives turned upside down. I took Naomi to A&E with symptons of pain in the pelvis and heavy bleeding. Naomi was seen and told to just have a smear test in the next 6 months. Thankfully we didn't take this advice and got Naomi to her GP within a couple of days.
· On March 7th, Naomi was diagnosed with a rare gynecological cancer -squamous cell carcinoma. This was found to be at "Stage 2b/3", in the form of a 5cm tumour.
· On April 4th, Naomi started 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy. This was followed with 4 days of brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy).
We received advice from friends and acquaintances about how to change Naomi's diet. No sugar or dairy, regular home made juices and smoothies to help alkalise her body and starve the cancer.
· On May 4th, Naomi had her first MRI scan. The scan showed that the tumour had reduced by 50%. This was amazing news. We asked to see the scan and were shocked to see how big the tumour was originally and was still to date.
· On August 22nd 2016, we went for Naomi's MRI scan results and were told, 'We have good news!' and listened to the doctor say that the tumour had gone, there was nothing showing on the MRI.
· He followed with saying that they are all very shocked by this and thought it was quite impossible for a tumour of that size to just go! So Naomi was now in remission, she was okay!
The days that followed, I watched Naomi come to terms with what she had been through. The radiotherapy had caused extensive damage to her pelvic area so she had to be put on HRT tablets. Naomi also had to come to terms that having her own child was not an option for her anymore. Because the doctors were so shocked by Naomi's clear scan, they had booked her in for another MRI in December 2016 to check that she was still clear of cancer.
· We went for the MRI results on Dec 19th 2016 and were told that there was a small 1cm shadow showing on Naomi's scan.
· Poor Naomi was going to go through it all again! They put Naomi under a general anaesthetic so that they could take a biopsy. They said it could be fluid or scar tissue, so we clung onto this hope.
· We were to get the biopsy results on Jan 9th 2017. We had already discussed different scenarios and had our questions ready, just in case, but we kept praying that it would not be cancer.
· However, after a long wait, the surgeon confirmed that that the cancer had returned!
· The only option with the NHS was for them to perform a full exenteration of Naomi's pelvic area. This would mean having to remove all organs in the pelvic cavity, leaving Naomi with permanent colostomy and urostomy bags.
· We were informed that even with this radical surgery, she would only have a 50/50 chance of being cured.
Other Options:
· We found a clinical trial of a new investigatory drug called 'Nivolumab' from America that is showing amazing results, we were hoping Naomi will qualify for this.
· Naomi is also started talking to the private Hallwang Oncology Clinic in Germany. They offer advanced medical treatments for cancer, including immunotherapeutics and cutting edge biological treatments, but the cost for this would exceed £50,000.
My main aim in life now is to keep my beautiful fiancé on this earth alongside me, I want to wake up with her every morning and share the rest of our lives together, we deserve this. I have set this funding page up for Naomi because we are struggling to meet the costs of alternative therapies, scans, appointments and further treatment in Germany/other countries.
Please donate. However much you can afford will help us dramatically and by way of a "Thank you", I want to share our findings, successes and failures so you can use our experiences and/or pass on to others. This is how our journey evolved ... learning from others. Please join our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Naomis-Cancer-Fight-1353221461394997/
I will keep updating you all on Naomi's progress.
UPDATE
Hi, just giving you a long overdue update:
We found an immunotherapy drug in America that luckily were wanting people for a clinical trial in London. Na had scans and tests that said she fulfilled their criteria and was ready to start. The day before she was going to have it the drug company pulled the rug from beneath Na saying that they wanted the cancer to be in more than one place. Again Na had been let down. The London doctor was upset for Na so she agreed to keep scanning Na to see if the cancer would pop up in a 2nd place. After 7 months of scanning, in August 2017 we found out that the cancer was growing but still wasn't spreading which was great news but also meant the clinical trial option was gone. Another option gone but Na always remained strong.
Alyssia Sade who we have followed from the beginning is a person that if she does something you follow because her knowledge is amazing! Alyssia and her sister Linda who had stomach cancer and was given a few months to live in the U.K. booked to go to a hospital in Mexico called Sanoviv where they treat everyone independently, they do every kind of blood test and want to find the cause of what feeds your own cancer. Within a few days Linda had had her cancer removed and left Sanoviv 99% cancer free! So straight away we got our funds in order and booked to come here to Sanoviv. When we got here, they immediately sprung into action and took Na's bloods and gave her IV treatment every day. This builds up Na's immune system to help fight cancer. You also get sessions with mind coaches that help you think more positively. All important tools to turn things around. Anyway we met with the surgeon who felt positive straight away that he could remove the tumour, of course we felt relieved. But after studying Na's scans he started to back track a little saying he was concerned about the bladder. Na had a camera inside the bladder that showed it to be clear of cancer on the inside but the scans showed a dark shadow next to the bladder wall on the outside which could of meant that the cancer had taken hold of it or that it was scarring. Na has suffered so much from scarring due to the radiotherapy damage!
Na really wanted to keep the bladder and the bowel for her personal quality of life.
Finally the surgeon came up with an idea this Wednesday 20th October 2017. This was to go in and have a look, if the bladder was taken by the cancer then he would take a biopsy of the tumour and create a vaccine to attack the tumour. If the bladder was clear he would remove the tumour and do a full hysterectomy. Na was very happy with this idea and we decided to proceed. On Friday 22nd October the surgery took place at 9.30am, seeing Na go into theatre broke my heart not knowing the outcome, at 11.30am the doctor went in to find out what was happening for me and came out with the best news possible, the surgeon was able to remove the tumour from the outside of the bladder wall!
When the surgeon started to remove the tumour etc. I immediately shared with close friends and family, I could have screamed it out loud! Finally good news for Na but the worst thing was Na wouldn't know for another few hours. Finally she awoke and in her dazed state she tried to take it in, I will never forget the look on her beautiful face.
We still have a way to go because the tumour is being tested on how active it was and how it feeds etc. A vaccine will then be made to fight Na's type of cancer this will hopefully keep her cancer at bay. She is now recovering at Sanoviv and will receive the best treatments to help her recovery.
The weight that has been lifted from Na and I, cannot be put into words, we can start to live again, Na will be pretty much pain free and have no tumour inside her. We have wanted to do so much together and can now start on them! Our family and friends have been amazing and helped us through it all. We have met a lot of awesome people that have shown us alternative ways to combat cancer and we will continue to share their findings and to help others. Like I say we aren't clear of cancer but Na has a good chance of living a long life now! I will happily recommend Sanoviv to anyone.
We will continue to update and will be advertising soon some fun fundraising events to help fund Naomi's future vaccine costs. We will never be able to express how much the donations (big or small) mean to us. They will help keep this cancer away for Naomi.
My name is Nichol and Naomi is my fiancé Naomi is 39. In March 2016, Naomi was diagnosed with a rare gynaecological squamous cell cancer - a stage 2b/3, 5cm tumour. Naomi has since undergone radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. Treatment appeared to be successful, but the cancer is persistent and the latest scan shows the tumour has grown back.
In terms of future treatment, the NHS have only been able to offer a radical full pelvic exenteration. This would involve removing all organs in the pelvic cavity and would leave Naomi with external colostomy and urostomy bags. This operation would still only give Naomi a 50/50 chance of survival. There are other options to explore such as immunotherapy, clinical trials, treatments abroad, nutrition and alternative medicines, but these all come at a cost. We have paid for some alternative treatments so far but we are coming to the end of our personal available funds.
Naomi's sick pay has come to an end and we are raising funds to continue her treatment. Please read our full story below because it will give you a detailed insight into Naomi's personal battle and how far we have come with our research into alternative therapies and treatments which we believe will also benefit others who have cancer.......
The Full Story
I first set eyes on Naomi on 9th Oct 2015. Everything I had imagined about my perfect soulmate beamed out of Naomi like a halo as she walked towards me on the platform at Beeston Station. I knew this was it ... that feeling that people talk about when you just know they are the one, well I felt it! We discussed our future and the places we wanted to visit together. We were like every other couple in their honeymoon period as they call it. Life was perfect!
But then on Valentine's Day 2016, our lives turned upside down. I took Naomi to A&E with symptons of pain in the pelvis and heavy bleeding. Naomi was seen and told to just have a smear test in the next 6 months. Thankfully we didn't take this advice and got Naomi to her GP within a couple of days.
· On March 7th, Naomi was diagnosed with a rare gynecological cancer -squamous cell carcinoma. This was found to be at "Stage 2b/3", in the form of a 5cm tumour.
· On April 4th, Naomi started 5 weeks of daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy. This was followed with 4 days of brachytherapy (internal radiotherapy).
We received advice from friends and acquaintances about how to change Naomi's diet. No sugar or dairy, regular home made juices and smoothies to help alkalise her body and starve the cancer.
· On May 4th, Naomi had her first MRI scan. The scan showed that the tumour had reduced by 50%. This was amazing news. We asked to see the scan and were shocked to see how big the tumour was originally and was still to date.
· On August 22nd 2016, we went for Naomi's MRI scan results and were told, 'We have good news!' and listened to the doctor say that the tumour had gone, there was nothing showing on the MRI.
· He followed with saying that they are all very shocked by this and thought it was quite impossible for a tumour of that size to just go! So Naomi was now in remission, she was okay!
The days that followed, I watched Naomi come to terms with what she had been through. The radiotherapy had caused extensive damage to her pelvic area so she had to be put on HRT tablets. Naomi also had to come to terms that having her own child was not an option for her anymore. Because the doctors were so shocked by Naomi's clear scan, they had booked her in for another MRI in December 2016 to check that she was still clear of cancer.
· We went for the MRI results on Dec 19th 2016 and were told that there was a small 1cm shadow showing on Naomi's scan.
· Poor Naomi was going to go through it all again! They put Naomi under a general anaesthetic so that they could take a biopsy. They said it could be fluid or scar tissue, so we clung onto this hope.
· We were to get the biopsy results on Jan 9th 2017. We had already discussed different scenarios and had our questions ready, just in case, but we kept praying that it would not be cancer.
· However, after a long wait, the surgeon confirmed that that the cancer had returned!
· The only option with the NHS was for them to perform a full exenteration of Naomi's pelvic area. This would mean having to remove all organs in the pelvic cavity, leaving Naomi with permanent colostomy and urostomy bags.
· We were informed that even with this radical surgery, she would only have a 50/50 chance of being cured.
Other Options:
· We found a clinical trial of a new investigatory drug called 'Nivolumab' from America that is showing amazing results, we were hoping Naomi will qualify for this.
· Naomi is also started talking to the private Hallwang Oncology Clinic in Germany. They offer advanced medical treatments for cancer, including immunotherapeutics and cutting edge biological treatments, but the cost for this would exceed £50,000.
My main aim in life now is to keep my beautiful fiancé on this earth alongside me, I want to wake up with her every morning and share the rest of our lives together, we deserve this. I have set this funding page up for Naomi because we are struggling to meet the costs of alternative therapies, scans, appointments and further treatment in Germany/other countries.
Please donate. However much you can afford will help us dramatically and by way of a "Thank you", I want to share our findings, successes and failures so you can use our experiences and/or pass on to others. This is how our journey evolved ... learning from others. Please join our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Naomis-Cancer-Fight-1353221461394997/
I will keep updating you all on Naomi's progress.
UPDATE
Hi, just giving you a long overdue update:
We found an immunotherapy drug in America that luckily were wanting people for a clinical trial in London. Na had scans and tests that said she fulfilled their criteria and was ready to start. The day before she was going to have it the drug company pulled the rug from beneath Na saying that they wanted the cancer to be in more than one place. Again Na had been let down. The London doctor was upset for Na so she agreed to keep scanning Na to see if the cancer would pop up in a 2nd place. After 7 months of scanning, in August 2017 we found out that the cancer was growing but still wasn't spreading which was great news but also meant the clinical trial option was gone. Another option gone but Na always remained strong.
Alyssia Sade who we have followed from the beginning is a person that if she does something you follow because her knowledge is amazing! Alyssia and her sister Linda who had stomach cancer and was given a few months to live in the U.K. booked to go to a hospital in Mexico called Sanoviv where they treat everyone independently, they do every kind of blood test and want to find the cause of what feeds your own cancer. Within a few days Linda had had her cancer removed and left Sanoviv 99% cancer free! So straight away we got our funds in order and booked to come here to Sanoviv. When we got here, they immediately sprung into action and took Na's bloods and gave her IV treatment every day. This builds up Na's immune system to help fight cancer. You also get sessions with mind coaches that help you think more positively. All important tools to turn things around. Anyway we met with the surgeon who felt positive straight away that he could remove the tumour, of course we felt relieved. But after studying Na's scans he started to back track a little saying he was concerned about the bladder. Na had a camera inside the bladder that showed it to be clear of cancer on the inside but the scans showed a dark shadow next to the bladder wall on the outside which could of meant that the cancer had taken hold of it or that it was scarring. Na has suffered so much from scarring due to the radiotherapy damage!
Na really wanted to keep the bladder and the bowel for her personal quality of life.
Finally the surgeon came up with an idea this Wednesday 20th October 2017. This was to go in and have a look, if the bladder was taken by the cancer then he would take a biopsy of the tumour and create a vaccine to attack the tumour. If the bladder was clear he would remove the tumour and do a full hysterectomy. Na was very happy with this idea and we decided to proceed. On Friday 22nd October the surgery took place at 9.30am, seeing Na go into theatre broke my heart not knowing the outcome, at 11.30am the doctor went in to find out what was happening for me and came out with the best news possible, the surgeon was able to remove the tumour from the outside of the bladder wall!
When the surgeon started to remove the tumour etc. I immediately shared with close friends and family, I could have screamed it out loud! Finally good news for Na but the worst thing was Na wouldn't know for another few hours. Finally she awoke and in her dazed state she tried to take it in, I will never forget the look on her beautiful face.
We still have a way to go because the tumour is being tested on how active it was and how it feeds etc. A vaccine will then be made to fight Na's type of cancer this will hopefully keep her cancer at bay. She is now recovering at Sanoviv and will receive the best treatments to help her recovery.
The weight that has been lifted from Na and I, cannot be put into words, we can start to live again, Na will be pretty much pain free and have no tumour inside her. We have wanted to do so much together and can now start on them! Our family and friends have been amazing and helped us through it all. We have met a lot of awesome people that have shown us alternative ways to combat cancer and we will continue to share their findings and to help others. Like I say we aren't clear of cancer but Na has a good chance of living a long life now! I will happily recommend Sanoviv to anyone.
We will continue to update and will be advertising soon some fun fundraising events to help fund Naomi's future vaccine costs. We will never be able to express how much the donations (big or small) mean to us. They will help keep this cancer away for Naomi.
Organizer
Nichol Dexter
Organizer
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