Help Jess raise money for Cancer treatment

Many of you may know me, but for any who don’t my name is Jess, and this is my story. Just after my 25th birthday I was diagnosed with low grade serous cell ovarian cancer, grade 3b. After this followed a whirlwind of meetings with medical professionals, eventually resulting in a full tumour debulking surgery. Due to the nature and placement of my cancer when I went in for surgery, I was expecting to most likely have an ovary removed in order to remove all the cancer and was not prepared for anything beyond that. During the surgery, the cancer was found to have spread further than initially thought, and I ended up having a total hysterectomy, omentectomy, appendectomy and peritonectomy. While still dealing with the devastating aftereffects of this surgery, I was told my cancer is still widespread through the abdomen and now possibly on my liver, according to recent blood tests.  Furthermore, as my cancer is low grade in nature, it is most likely chemo resistant, so I was unfortunately told my condition is incurable.

If my cancer had been caught earlier, things could’ve been very different. For over three years I went to various GP’s with symptoms, which were continually misdiagnosed as IBS, stress, anxiety, gastritis and even just ‘women’s problems’. In this time, the cancer was given the chance to spread, to a point where the only option was to have a full hysterectomy at age 25. Although Ovarian cancer is devastating for many – it kills 11 women every day in the UK and the survival rates in the UK are among the worst in Europe – research is limited. Charities such as Target Ovarian Cancer (who I raised money for on my last birthday) is one of a few charities that specifically help fund research, raise awareness and support those who are living with Ovarian cancer.

In my case however, not even these amazing efforts have managed to help me with my treatment. All of the treatments I am on are in fact treatments for high grade ovarian/breast cancer, which is not specific enough to solve the problem. This means my cancer is incurable, simply because not enough is know about it. The only options left are a few unconventional treatments from private companies. ‘Foundation Medicine’ for example could conduct some specific genetic and molecular testing, which might enable me to enter some clinical trials, specific for my cancer. This is an expensive test, as it is considered as ‘personalised medicine’, which is unavailable through the NHS.

As well as further testing, I can potentially opt for treatment at the Care Oncology Clinic in London, for an alternative medication of ‘metformin’. This is one of my last options for slowing down the progression of the cancer, alongside the very expensive Avastin treatment (25k a year), and sadly, is not licensed for use in NHS cancer treatment. Again, this will cost a lot of money, over years of treatments, consultations and prescriptions. This starting figure of £30,000 consists of £3000 for the previously mentioned testing at Foundation Medicine and the rest for the private treatment through the Care Oncology Clinic and even for a possible Avastin treatment regime. This goal is simply not possible for me to achieve on my own, and so I have set up this page. However, as I will need to be on this treatment for a very long time, this figure is a starting amount, and will likely increase over time.

My friends and family will also be participating in fundraising events and activities that I would love and deeply appreciate for you to follow or get involved with. I know that everyone is having a really hard time as a result of Covid, and that money isn’t going a long way right now, but if anyone has anything to spare, I would be so grateful if you could help me achieve this goal and give me and my loved ones hope for the future. Whether you choose to get involved or not, thankyou for taking the time to read my story, and please share to help me reach my goal.