Help Julie Get Life Saving Breast Cancer Treatment
I am Julie's sister Gemma, and along with Julie's close family and friends we are fundraising to allow her to travel to America to take part in a potentially life saving trial, run by Yale University.
Julie is 43 years old and has been married to her husband for 11 years. They live in Glasgow and have 2 beautiful children together who are just 9 and 6 years old. Out of the blue in August 2017, Julie was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). This is an aggressive type of breast cancer which is hard to treat but it didn't stop Julie fighting it full force. After chemo, a lumpectomy, removal of lymph nodes, radiotherapy and more chemo, Julie was cancer free in December 2019. Devastatingly, just 10 months later the news came that the cancer had returned in her breast and spread to her breast bone. Trials were the best option as there is currently no cure for metastatic TNBC. For 18 months solid, Julie received 19 cycles of chemo in the hope of shrinking the cancer or slowing it down. The chemo helped keep the cancer at bay for over a year but it has now stopped working and the cancer has spread further to her lung and liver.
Treatment provided has now been stopped and the NHS has no cure to offer. Julie ironically runs clinical trials herself and has worked alongside Oncologists at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow. This has resulted in her looking further afield for treatment and Julie has now been accepted on to a trial at Yale New Haven Health Hospital in America for, potentially, life saving treatment. This treatment can begin if a massive £90,000 can be raised to pay for the hospital stay and clinical care required. Examples of this include the use of operating and recovery rooms, anaesthesia, surgical and medical supplies, drugs, implantables, radiology and physician services. The treatment involves using the body's own immune system to obtain a positive anti tumour response against the cancer. Other similar studies have shown anti-tumour responses with some even resulting in a complete response to the treatment. The money raised will be withdrawn by myself and sent directly to Julie who will transfer the money straight to Yale New Havan Health Hospital.
Apart from the cancer, Julie has remained healthy and has unbelievably continued to work full time throughout the treatment. She is the strongest person we know and has managed to keep her difficult days from her kids and even her family. If it wasn't for her hair falling out, you would never know she had stage 4 cancer. She really is a super hero! She has some how continued running 8k, 3 times a week and we are all so in awe of her strength and determination.
Julie is desperate to keep being a mummy to her little kids, to love them, see them grow up, not have the sadness of their mummy dying and be able to keep living her life. Her friends and family just can't lose her and Julie can't bear not being here with us either. If you can help, we will all be so grateful if you can make a donation to allow Julie to travel to America and start treatment as soon as possible.
Thank you x
