Welcome to this page and thank you for being here. Our names are Elena and Cristyn, the two daughters of Juliet Williams. We have set up this fundraising page for our beautiful mother as she has recently embarked on a cancer journey. This is a journey nobody wants to take and one that nobody deserves, least of all our wonderful mother who has spent her life supporting and encouraging everyone around her to follow their dreams.

Juliet was only just beginning to follow her own dreams, enjoying her very first year of retirement, with plans to travel to visit grandchildren abroad and finally enjoy a well-deserved rest. Unfortunately, a shattering diagnosis has put her life on hold.

As many of you are aware, after 4 months of investigations into a mild abdominal bloating, Juliet eventually received a diagnosis of Metastatic Peritoneal cancer (secondary stage 4 cancer of the lining of the abdomen). This serious cancer can have a poor prognosis and the diagnosis came as a devastating blow, especially as Juliet had been seemingly well and living life to the full.

There are still unanswered questions - after many tests, the source of the cancer (the primary) has still not been found. Despite this, it was decided to go ahead and treat the secondary cancer with chemotherapy. Juliet is currently enduring 6 gruelling cycles of chemotherapy, including infusions of Oxaliplatin and daily chemotherapy pills (Capecitabine). The side effects are extremely challenging, and luckily our Dad, Alun, is providing the most wonderful care, support and strength throughout this ordeal.

At the moment scans show that the chemotherapy is keeping the cancer at bay, but naturally, we have started to wonder what happens next. Unfortunately, the difficult truth is that Juliet was informed from the start that the cancer is incurable, and they can only hope to control it.

However - here is the positive part… Thankfully, there is hope. In recent years, a groundbreaking surgery has been developed, providing optimism to sufferers of peritoneal cancer. The cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) consists of an operation, during which the abdomen is opened, visible cancer tumours are removed, and the abdominal cavity flooded directly with heated chemotherapy to eliminate any remaining cancer cells. This pioneering and targeted approach is much more beneficial than the generalised, whole-body chemotherapy that Juliet is presently undertaking. Current estimates are that it can add a minimum of 7 additional years of life in cases just like Juliet's.

HIPEC is not currently available on the NHS in Wales. However, there is an option is to attend a private hospital for the procedure. Treatment costs vary depending on the location but are estimated between 50-70k.

Therefore, we have put together this page in order to ask for support for a person who, as mentioned, has spent her entire life working hard every day for those around her, putting others first and making the world a better place. Now it’s time to make her world a better place so that her grandchildren are lucky enough to have her in their lives for a while longer yet.

Money raised would be used for the surgery itself, follow up care, travel expenses and accommodation costs for the family.

Even a little contribution will go such a long way. Individually these challenges are tough, collectively they become lessened. Whether or not you are in a position to donate, we encourage you to keep sharing this post far and wide to reach as many people as possible.

We look forward to updating you with good news as we continue down this path together.

Thank you for reading Juliet’s story - we are so grateful for your support.

Elena and Cristyn ❤️❤️