Help Jen with life saving Herceptin drug

Jenny is my sister. She is 47 and is a loving mother to two children. In February 2021, Jenny was diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of Breast Cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Despite Jenny regularly checking her breasts, in the 3 weeks from the discovery of the tumor to its diagnosis, it had grown to 6cm x 8cm. By the time her chemotherapy treatment started two months later, Jenny's tumor had grown to 12cm x 10cm, and she was classified as Stage 3. Inflammatory Breast Cancer needs a special chemotherapy drug called Herceptin to battle the disease productively, as the volatile nature of these tumors are only effectively counteracted by its ability to target the tumor cells alone, unlike other chemotherapy drugs which target all of a body's cells. Without Herceptin, a Stage 3 Inflammatory Breast Cancer sufferer has a life expectancy of under 5 years from diagnosis.

Unfortunately, Jenny is having to undergo treatment through the public health system in South Africa. Herceptin is not recognised for Stage 3 patients in the treatment regimen and is not funded by the South African government. Herceptin costs approximately £250 per treatment for a generic and, according to her oncologist, Jenny will need at least 12 treatments, with a double mastectomy operation and radiation treatments in-between some of these. She will also probably require a full hysterectomy as her Cancer is H+++ and feeds off her body's Oestrogen. Without this drug, the normal outcome for patients with Jenny's diagnosis is dire. However, with Herceptin, the outcome is a lot more positive. Thousands of patients who have received this treatment are alive and now Cancer-free. We are praying for this outcome for Jenny.

Helping us to reach our target will enable us to cover Jenny's Herceptin treatment, surgeries and recuperation.

Jenny's tumor has not responded to the four regular chemotherapy treatments (without Herceptin) that she has received to date, and she's just been informed that Herceptin treatment is probably the only chance she has for any kind of life-saving outcome. My sister is a vibrant, positive human being with so much of her life still ahead of her. Our family is desperate to secure Herceptin treatment for her and we need all the help we can get. Please help us provide our loving sister, mother, daughter and partner with this essential treatment that she so desperately needs. Thank you.

(To find out more about the incredible story of the inventor of this miracle drug, Dr. Dennis Slamon, watch the movie ‘Living Proof’.)