Donate to help reunite Kate and her family

Hello, my name is Kate and I'm a 47-year-old woman and a mother of two, who at 42 was diagnosed with a grade 2 Chondrosarcoma. This is a rare type of cancer that usually begins in the bones but can sometimes occur in the soft tissue near bones. My Chondrosarcoma occurred in my right pelvis.

Back in October of 2020, I went for surgery to remove my cancerous tumour.

Unfortunately, unexpected complications occurred during my surgery. These complications sadly were not treated appropriately at the time nor was I monitored with care afterwards, which led to me having to undergo a right leg amputation.

I'm now a right hindquarter amputee, I no longer have a hip, half of my pelvis had to be removed, and I have no sitting bone on my right side, which means I will never be able to have a prosthetic and am reliant on a wheelchair.

I also now suffer from extensive lymphedema in these areas, which has to be managed by uncomfortable full compression dressings for the rest of my life.

As you will appreciate, my surgery was very traumatic, but due to it being during Covid it also left me very isolated and missing my family at a time when I needed them the most but travel for them to the specialist hospital where I resided was very difficult due to travel and PPE restrictions.

Due to my amputation, my existing flat could not be adapted for my needs and I had to remain in a specialised hospital for 18 long months due to being very unwell (induced coma for 2 weeks and kidney dialysis) and nowhere suitable for me to be discharged to, so since September 2022 I have resided in a care home for residents who have had brain injuries.

The last 5 years have been unbearable not being able to be with my loving partner or a ‘proper mum’ to my two wonderful boys who were 6 and 11 when I left them and who are now 11 and 15! However, finally with patience, finding strength I did not know I had, we have now been offered a property suitable to adapt to my needs.

This means that I will finally be able to live with my partner and children once again. This being said, it will be a further 6-8 months until we can move into this property & finally be reunited.

Of course, I am very excited but also concerned about affording the household goods and furnishing etc as well as some of the specialist items that I/we will need to be able to be fully independent.

I have touched upon my cancer story lightly - many other things happened to me which are incredibly triggering to me now, and if I re-live or think about these too deeply, I'm not sure I would be able to truly cope.

We are a normal hard-working family, and I worked full time up until my operations but have not been able to work since then, and my amazing partner continues to do all that he can with his job and looking after the children full time, so any support you can give us to afford things for our new home would mean the world to us all.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my story. We are incredibly grateful for any donations and support you can provide. It would mean the world to us all.