<div>Hi, well let’s start at the beginning my name is Melissa or Mel as all my friends and family call me.
</div>
<div>I am a daughter, sister, mother, niece and teacher.
</div>
<div>In May of this year (2023) the normal life that I had been living was shattered when I was dealt the devastating news that I had stage 4 bowel cancer that had spread to my liver.
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<div>I cannot even begin to describe that shocked numb feeling of someone sitting you down and handing you what felt like a death sentence. How can this be happening to me? I’m 38 with a 7 year old daughter and so much to live for. But I guess that’s the reality isn’t it? Cancer doesn’t care who you are or how old you are.
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<div>My life before Cancer - Well it was pretty busy, I had a teaching job that I loved, an active 7 year old who is my world (Grace)
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<div>I have a very close knit family and we love nothing more than spending time together.
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<div>The diagnosis - That’s a day I’ll never forget it’s etched in my memory and will be forever, it’s the day where my life and that of my family got completely turned upside. After barely processing the news myself that I had Cancer, I then had to break this devastating news to my family, which was a huge blow to them, it was like a bomb went off right underneath us.
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<div>Within hours I went under the knife for major abdominal surgery. I had a Hartmanns procedure to remove the sigmoid part of my colon and had a temporary stoma fitted to allow my bowel to heal - if I hadn't gone to A and E when I did I would have been dead within days due to a perforated bowel and peritonitis. Apart from the excrutiating pain I suddenly experienced (my bowel perforating) I had no other symptoms.
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<div>5 weeks after my surgery I heard words from an NHS oncologist that will forever haunt me, 'This is not a cancer we are going to be able to get rid of......'
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<div>I am now currently undergoing chemotherapy which I am responding well too.
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<div>Unfortunately long term treatment options in the UK for stage 4 are incredibly limited compared to the rest of Europe. Maintenance chemo is really the only option being offered to me but I don’t believe it is sustainable long term due to the incredibly damaging effects it has on the rest of the body, plus the fact it is designed to control the cancer not eradicate it.
</div>
<div>I have done hours and hours of research and believe the best course of action lies in TACE and dendritic cell therapy in Germany.
</div>
<div>Germany is miles ahead of any other country in Europe in terms of integrative oncology - but it comes at a hefty price. And that’s why I am here, setting up my first ever go fund me page.
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<div>Please help me reach my target so I can travel to Germany for treatment after my gruelling initial chemo is finished, I am not ready to give up, I won’t give up, I have so much to live for, and I will be around for as long as possible to see my little girl grow up.
</div>
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<div>Thank you all
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<div>Anyone finding themselves, loved ones etc. in a similar situation and wants advice or to talk - my inbox is always open.
</div>

Natalia Roque

Clare Sims

Leanne Bewley

Janice Wilson

Ashley Fisher

Claire Tarbard

Matthew Hamman

Chloe Hawes

Eamonn Lamper

Anonymous

Michelle Spicer

Becki Neale

Margaret Gibbs

Marion Taylor

Moore Maria

Keely Andrews

Jenny O'Neill

Help raise funds for life saving cancer treatment

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help raise funds for life saving cancer treatment

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