Help me beat cancer so I can finish raising my two boys and help others do the same.

I’m a mum of two ND boys, currently on palliative treatment for aggressive inflammatory triple negative breast cancer. In the summer of 2024, while I was breastfeeding my youngest son, what I thought was mastitis turned out to be stage 3 breast cancer and our family’s life changed overnight.

I’m fundraising to access ongoing immunotherapy and a personalised vaccine overseas, which offers me a slim but real chance of living long enough to see my sons grow up and, in time, to help others access these kinds of treatments.

Before my diagnosis, I wasn’t working because I was a full-time carer for my eldest son, who is neurodivergent. My days were already full with supporting him alongside the normal chaos and fun of family life. One of the first things I remember saying to my oncologist was, “I haven’t got time to be ill.” Cancer was not meant to be part of our story.

I went through intensive treatment and, for a short time, reached the magical words “No Evidence of Disease”. Sadly, only a few months after finishing treatment, the cancer came back. My UK care team have been great; I am immensely grateful to my oncologist, my breast care nurse, and the whole team for their kindness and support throughout my journey. However, treatment options are limited and I am now on palliative care in the UK, with a very poor life expectancy if I rely on standard options alone.

Because we had some savings and because of my (slightly rusty) biology degree, I have been able to push further. I’ve researched, talked with researchers and women who have been through similar experiences, and asked so many questions. This has led me to work with clinics in Europe to design an immunotherapy-based plan that gives me a slim, but real, chance of a cure. My goals are to live long enough to see my sons become men, finish my parenting job and help others in the same position.

So far, we have paid for this using our savings and money released from downsizing our home. Cancer, however, is an extremely expensive hobby, and those funds are not going to last.

Recently, I travelled to Munich for a novel treatment, which was successful and has given us precious hope. I am now having a personalised cancer vaccine made, and after that I will need further immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors to help my immune system keep fighting the cancer. These drugs are currently very expensive, and I may need to take them for a long time if they work.

On one hand, I feel uncomfortable asking for money because I know I am privileged to have even found these options. On the other hand, I am essentially a guinea pig for a new way of tackling this disease and I am using my experience to share knowledge and hope with others. I am always open to talking with people in the same position as me and feel privileged to be able to share what I’ve learned and potentially improve their outcomes. I dream of being well enough to help other patients access these kinds of treatments more easily, so that no one has to fight this hard just to find options.

I truly believe these approaches will become available to everyone in the future – but my boys need me now.

There are also things we didn’t fully plan for:

The costs of managing side effects from treatment, so that my body stays strong enough for immunotherapy to work as well as possible.

Travel costs: my last treatment in Munich required weekly trips back and forth to the UK so I could see my family and continue IV chemotherapy here.

Extra childcare: when I’m away or too exhausted from chemo, we need childcare, or my husband has to reduce his hours at work.

The added costs of having someone travel with me (like my elderly mum on my next trip) so there is an adult with me if I become unwell while abroad.

Ongoing immunotherapy: if things go well, I will need to stay on checkpoint inhibitors longer than originally planned.

We made the plan around a shorter expected lifespan; now, I want to plan for the possibility of more life, not less.

Overall, this treatment plan will cost more than £80,000. For now, we are aiming to raise £10,000 to help extend the treatment and cover some unforeseen costs.

My initial target is £10,000, to help cover a few more months of checkpoint inhibitors and the practical costs of continuing treatment. If this treatment keeps working, every extra pound will go towards extending it and exploring more cutting-edge options, increasing the chances that I get to support my boys into adulthood. It feels like a huge target to reach through my circle of family and friends alone, but I’m hoping that if this is shared widely enough, we might come close.

If you are able to help, here is what your donations could mean:

£200 could pay for time with a consultant or cancer researcher to help fine‑tune my treatment plan or explore more cutting‑edge options for my particular cancer.

£20 could pay for a cleaner for an hour, giving my husband a small bit of breathing space when he is not wrangling two boys, cooking, or working.

£10 could cover a week of the private prescriptions that support my body through chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

£5 could buy me a healthy snack while I wait for trains to and from treatment, when I’m exhausted but still trying to look after myself.

Any amount you can give, no matter how small, genuinely makes a difference to our family. If you can’t donate, sharing this page with others is also an incredible help. Thank you for reading, for caring about a family you may never meet, and for giving me a fighting chance to be here as my sons grow up and, one day, to help others find their own way through this too.

You can follow my treatment journey on Insta - Helenchristopher