Help jill fight cancer
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We hope you understand that reaching out at the moment is a difficult thing for us to do. My beautiful wife Jill is 32 and has been given the awful news she will likely only have 18 months to live. We have two children aged one and four. We need your help to hopefully change Jill’s prognosis and get her better so she can see them grow up. We are hoping to raise funds to help Jill receive private immunotherapy either in the UK or abroad. This is not a treatment that the NHS currently offers, however it has been shown to be promising for even rare cancers.
In around May 2019 Jill had noticed two breast lumps, initially she thought it was pregnancy related however, we went to the GP immediately and they referred Jill to the breast clinic. Jill had a scan and two biopsies at this point. She was very worried and nervous, mainly because she has the nursing knowledge and knew something was not right. She had been having shoulder pain during her pregnancy but she put this down to normal pregnancy aches and pains.
We received the devastating news that Jill’s biopsies had shown cancer, if that was not terrifying enough we were also told that this was not breast cancer and was actually a cancer spread from somewhere else. The doctor had explained that the pathologists were working hard to find out what type of cancer this was as the biopsy cells were complex.
At this point Jill had a full body CT scan to find out where the primary cancer was. We were given the devastating news that she had stage 4 cancer. This horrific disease was in her breasts, lung, lymph nodes and liver. We were also given another awful blow that they could not find the primary cancer and did not know where it had originated. Jill’s official diagnosis was then metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of unknown primary, a very rare cancer.
In September 2019 Jill was advised by her doctor that she was not a candidate for surgery as the cancer was too widespread. They recommended a six cycle round of intensive chemotherapy - Carboplatin and Etoposide. Jill was familiar with chemo due to giving her patients this, she could not believe she was now in her patient’s position. At this point we were hopeful this gruelling chemo would make the cancer regress. Jill was also open to trying alternative treatments, supplements and diet changes. Often saying “I will do anything, to see and be with my babies growing up”. Surprisingly, Jill did not lose her hair during chemo and still looked physically well. At the second last cycle of chemo, Jill started to weaken and become poorly, she noticed her pain levels were worsening. She started to have severe chronic widespread pain and had to take tramadol and morphine just to function. She has been unable to eat and has no appetite or energy. During the time of the last two chemos, Jill had said it has all been a blur as she has been so exhausted and has been confined to bed most of the time.
We were given the devastating news that the six cycles of chemotherapy have not worked. Her tumours have increased in size and have spread further into her liver. At this point her doctor advised there is only one more treatment left and that is more gruelling chemotherapy - Capecitabine and Temozolomide. The doctor also explained that this chemotherapy cycle is not curative and is palliative. They also said the worst words a young family could hear, that Jill will likely only have 18 months to live if this treatment does not help the cancer recede.
We now need to raise funds to give Jill a last chance of hope. The funds would be used to pay for the private treatment, accommodation whilst Jill is receiving treatment, travel costs, associated costs with treatment.
Also, after reading our story, If you have any advice on treatments specific to Jill’s cancer, if you know anyone that has this type of cancer, or if you know any specialists that specialise in rare neuroendocrine carcinomas please reach out to us at [email redacted].uk.
In around May 2019 Jill had noticed two breast lumps, initially she thought it was pregnancy related however, we went to the GP immediately and they referred Jill to the breast clinic. Jill had a scan and two biopsies at this point. She was very worried and nervous, mainly because she has the nursing knowledge and knew something was not right. She had been having shoulder pain during her pregnancy but she put this down to normal pregnancy aches and pains.
We received the devastating news that Jill’s biopsies had shown cancer, if that was not terrifying enough we were also told that this was not breast cancer and was actually a cancer spread from somewhere else. The doctor had explained that the pathologists were working hard to find out what type of cancer this was as the biopsy cells were complex.
At this point Jill had a full body CT scan to find out where the primary cancer was. We were given the devastating news that she had stage 4 cancer. This horrific disease was in her breasts, lung, lymph nodes and liver. We were also given another awful blow that they could not find the primary cancer and did not know where it had originated. Jill’s official diagnosis was then metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of unknown primary, a very rare cancer.
In September 2019 Jill was advised by her doctor that she was not a candidate for surgery as the cancer was too widespread. They recommended a six cycle round of intensive chemotherapy - Carboplatin and Etoposide. Jill was familiar with chemo due to giving her patients this, she could not believe she was now in her patient’s position. At this point we were hopeful this gruelling chemo would make the cancer regress. Jill was also open to trying alternative treatments, supplements and diet changes. Often saying “I will do anything, to see and be with my babies growing up”. Surprisingly, Jill did not lose her hair during chemo and still looked physically well. At the second last cycle of chemo, Jill started to weaken and become poorly, she noticed her pain levels were worsening. She started to have severe chronic widespread pain and had to take tramadol and morphine just to function. She has been unable to eat and has no appetite or energy. During the time of the last two chemos, Jill had said it has all been a blur as she has been so exhausted and has been confined to bed most of the time.
We were given the devastating news that the six cycles of chemotherapy have not worked. Her tumours have increased in size and have spread further into her liver. At this point her doctor advised there is only one more treatment left and that is more gruelling chemotherapy - Capecitabine and Temozolomide. The doctor also explained that this chemotherapy cycle is not curative and is palliative. They also said the worst words a young family could hear, that Jill will likely only have 18 months to live if this treatment does not help the cancer recede.
We now need to raise funds to give Jill a last chance of hope. The funds would be used to pay for the private treatment, accommodation whilst Jill is receiving treatment, travel costs, associated costs with treatment.
Also, after reading our story, If you have any advice on treatments specific to Jill’s cancer, if you know anyone that has this type of cancer, or if you know any specialists that specialise in rare neuroendocrine carcinomas please reach out to us at [email redacted].uk.
Organizer
Alexander Steedman
Organizer
Scotland
