Holly, 35, mother, Stage 4 bowel cancer battler!

Hello to all my beautiful friends, and perhaps hello also to some friends-to-be. Things are really tough at the moment and I really need your help. As most of you already know I’m Holly 34 years old, wife to Ross my incredible husband and mother to our beautiful 2 year old little girl Roxie. I was diagnosed in August 2022 with stage 3C1M metastatic colorectal cancer. It was discovered approximately 14 months after I gave birth, and was a serious and nasty cancer at its diagnosis, likely turbocharged by the hormones the body produces during pregnancy. This meant it had become widespread, albeit locally, in a very short amount of time, travelling extensively though my pelvic lymph nodes from the original bowel tumour, and up into my para-aortic canal lymphs higher into the body.

I began a 4 type chemotherapy cocktail course in October 2022 lasting 12 weeks, followed by an intensive 5 week course of radiotherapy 8 weeks later. All indications were that I reacted to the chemo very well, showing reduction of the original bowel tumour, and also showing all lymph cancer had melted away.

I was always due to have a huge and drastic operation as the final segment of treatment which is to remove all my pelvic organs which will leave me with 2 ‘bags for life’ as they will have to remove not only the section of irreparable bowel, but also my bladder due to the tissues being removed containing the blood/nerve supplies that control bladder function.

Everything seemed to be headed in the right direction, and I was awaiting the operation as planned, until a few weeks ago, I discovered a new lump in my groin. The already scheduled PET CT scan showed that I had 3 new cancerous lymph zones, separate to the original areas, which means it has become stage 4 despite all treatment. This can happen from chemotherapy, where the strongest types of cancer cells remain unaffected by the treatment, lie undetected and then begin to thrive the moment treatment stops.

This life altering operation comes with a lot of risks, which since the discovery of these new cancerous areas now also means the cancer could spread to other organs at any point through this process. My odds have now changed from the high 80% mark of full recovery, to 50/50 of surviving beyond 5 years. This as you can imagine, has come as a huge shock.

I have taken the decision to try to access as many of the alternative treatments that have been offered to me as I can, before my operation, which is said to be early August and am awaiting confirmation of this.

I’m assured, that in any event, these treatments will make the operation less drastic, but in the event of a very positive response, it could mean that I continue with this approach instead of the operation.

This is a multi-faceted approach including a strict, extremely low calorie diet, many trips to various places around the country for treatments & mistletoe therapy among many others, all of which cost the earth. I’m hoping to raise £35k with your help. I know it’s a huge amount and a really big ask

I love you all so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️