Help Fiona's Fight Against Ovarian Cancer

My name is Dr. Anita Sturnham and we are fundraising to raise money for our incredible friend and colleague, Nurse Fiona. We have created this page so that we can work together to support her on her journey, as she continues to battle against a devastating diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer.

 

Fiona's story so far, in her own words....

In September 2021 after undergoing some routine fertility tests I was given the diagnosis of Stage 4B high grade ovarian cancer. To say I was in shock was an understatement. I would walk around London looking at people go about their daily lives thinking just how precious life & health is.

I underwent a successful surgery followed by integrative treatments and chemotherapy in 2022. I had a clear scan & normal tumour markers at the end of treatment- the best news you can ask for with advanced ovarian cancer. For 6 months I spent my time living in the present. I immersed myself in researching how to support my terrain & spent lots of time in nature just processing everything that came along with this life shock.

In June 2023, I left my routine & bubble of self care to travel with friends & my body just felt off. My gut started to play up & I put this down to things I ate or being out of routine. I thought time & rest would cause things to settle. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case & I then developed severe abdominal bloating & ascites which caused it incredibly uncomfortable to eat.

I started a new cycle of chemotherapy in August with the NHS due to my good response last year. Prior to my first treatment Nic & I privately funded a chemo sensitivity test (Datar Exacta) which is FDA approved & looks at circulating tumour cells & determines which chemo agents or drugs your specific & unique cancer cells respond best to. It showed I had a very poor response to the chemo agent I was given on the NHS, but the great news is that I show a great response to many other agents. Sadly they are not offered on the NHS as they are not “protocol”

Due to the chemo agent showing little effect & being immunosuppressive my gut symptoms flared up immensely. I was in so much discomfort I couldn’t even keep bone broth down & began to lose weight. I ended up in a&e on multiple occasions and was sent home with everything from sedatives, anti-nausea which causes intense stomach cramping & even antidepressants. I have love & appreciation for the NHS as it has saved my life, but this system is fundamentally broken & in the year since I’ve had treatment it has become a scarier place to receive care. We spoke to a doctor at acute oncology about needing emergency admission who said there should have been 6 doctors on the ward, but due to the ongoing junior doctors' strike he was the only doctor & that we would get a call back the following day, which we never received.

Having not eaten for 4 days, losing further weight & quickly approaching my next treatment Nic & I decided to go private for the next steps of this treatment. To put it bluntly- to save my life. And this is the reason we have set up this GoFundMe.

I was admitted to the Harley street clinic privately under my oncologist who has an open mind & the care and attention to detail has made me feel safe & cared for. They immediately told me to stop all medications I had been prescribed on the NHS as they were likely making everything worse.

Following a scan we now know I am currently experiencing an intestinal blockage due to recurrent disease. This presents various complications which we are trying to navigate and which likely require some extensive specialised care. The costs of being here are already very steep but sadly we feel that in this acute stage of my disease we cannot risk leaving my life in the hands of the NHS alone. We are hoping to raise some money to help cover my stay, whose duration is still not clear. We are hoping to raise £80,000 in order to help cover the below:

1. the uncertain costs of our stay here and all of the necessary interventions, procedures, and doctor's fees

2. the costs of my consultant integrative oncologist abroad.

3. costs of a bespoke chemotherapy protocol to give me the best possible chance at getting through this current recurrence.

4. the ongoing cost of specialised supplements and complementary treatments to make sure I can survive the chemotherapy

5. Ongoing personalised tests (a new field called Precision oncology) where agents and treatments are specified to the individual

6 Travel abroad for treatments not yet available in the UK

For those who feel they are in a position to donate, any contribution no matter how small or large will be incredibly impactful for what lies ahead. I would be so thankful if you could please also share this link with others. This is the second time a GoFundMe page has been set up for me, I am incredibly grateful and humbled by those who chose to donate during the initial stages of my diagnosis in 2021.

Through the help of dear friends I will do my best to keep you all updated.

Love,

Fiona and Nic xxx