Life Saving Cancer Treatment.

Hi all my name is Ian,

Im trying to raise £50,000 for life changing cancer treatment for my wife Nikki Farrington.

My Wifes back ground.

Nikki has worked for the neonatal unit at new cross hospital for over 25 years, caring for the most extreme premature infants and supporting the families. She has saved and helped save countless lives through her efforts and selfless actions whilst carrying out her passion.

In recent years Nikki set up the first bereavement service within the west midlands NHS trust, caring and supporting grieving families who would other wise be forgotten.

Nikki was nominated and received the very prestigious Mariposa Award for professional of the year in 2022, followed by the Neonatal Nurse of the year in 2023. Both nominations were spearheaded by parents who received first class care and support from Nikki and her tireless work to promote multi professional working.

She has a Husband Ian and an 8 year old son Jake, who has Autism. Jake is a law unto himself and is a whirlwind of energy, fun and laughter. And will always bring a smile to our faces. He has a basic understanding of how ill his mom is but not to what extent and I am hoping to make sure his mom is here for many years to come.

The situation

My Wife Nikki was originally diagnosed with a chocolate Cyst linked to endometriosis at the beginning of 2023 and the initial advice at that time was it wasn’t cancer so we don’t have to worry. This was meant to put our minds at rest as we thought the worst. And the relief at being told it wasn’t cancer was immense.

However and thankfully, another consultant had the mind to advise that the original testing was insufficient and further tests were needed ie blood tests testing many things including CA125 levels which is the cancer antigen, MRIs, CT Scans and eventually biopsies. Each time they came back to advise of further tests we were assured it was just routine and not to worry, it maybe cancer but they weren’t sure. Nikki was diagnosed with Advanced Low Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer in March 2023, as for anyone in these situations the news was devastating.

On 21st June 2023 Nikki underwent a 9 hour operation Which consisted of a full hysterectomy, Large scale debulking of her liver, diaphragm, intestines and pelvic wall.

Whilst operating they discovered that the cancer was extremely wide spread and she had tumours on her stomach and colon. As a result 2/3 of her stomach was removed and most of her colon resulting in a stoma. She was also fitted with a feeding tube into her lower bowel, when this tube was removed the wound should have healed instead it formed a fistula which never healed and even now causes pain and discomfort.

During her chemotherapy throughout 2023 and upto March 2024 Nikki was admitted to hospital 8 times with severe vomiting and pain due to abdominal obstructions caused by the cancer, scarring, adhesions etc, the hospital only treated the symptoms and not the cause despite us pleading with them about the surgery and the consultants she was under, it fell on deaf ears. Essentially the NHS missed atleast 8 opportunities to find out what was wrong with Nikki and resolve the issues. We were simply told it couldn’t be the disease/cancer, we found out later that’s exactly what it was.

Even when Nikkis CA 125 levels started going up the NHS did nothing, we got the all clear in May 2024 with CT scans being signed off as clear even though the CA125 levels we still going up.

Nikkis symptoms continued to get worse until she was unable to eat or drink without vomiting, and with no one willing to listen I had no choice but to have her admitted to Hospital on the 15/08/2024, she was dehydrated weak and very ill. During blood tests it was found that she was close to renal failure, normal Kidney function is 90 + but Nikkis was 16. She was then admitted to a surgical ward to be monitored and her kidney functions brought back upto where they needed to be. An operation we originally were having to wait months for to sort out the fistula and obstructions was then scheduled for the 22/08/2024.

This resulted in the worst news possible, the cancer hadn’t gone atall but had continued to grow and spread so her lower abdomen was riddled with cancer deposits. Low Grade is very slow moving so the extent of the spread meant it would have had to be there for quite some time, chemo clearly had little effect on it. Further Biopsies were taken and Nikki was closed back up with no work being done as they saw it as too risky.

Due to the obstructions Nikki is now dependant on TPN where she receives Nourishment directly into her artery. As a result she isn’t allowed home as TPN cannot be administered at home unless Nikki attends training on TPN at the QE hospital in Birmingham which can take upto 6 weeks, 6 weeks she doesn’t have to waste.

We have been let down by the NHS in a big way, insufficient Treatments, Insufficient Monitoring, failure to act when the opportunities arose, misinformation, and a failure to listen and understand what they were being told. Nikki has now been given a small time frame to live without treatment.

We have sent out many requests for second opinions on both the surgical aspects and the oncology to see if there is better treatment that can be given to Nik, however it has become apparent that this will now require us to go private with rough estimates for what is needed running into the tens of thousands of pounds. This is for surgeries, oncology treatments, after care, TPN, follow ups and home visits.

In addition as Nikkis illness has gone on for around 18 months she is no longer receiving a salary or any kind of sick pay, so financial implications on the family are quite severe at present.

Thankyou for reading my post and any donation will be greatly appreciated.

Yours Hopefully.

Ian