<div><strong><em>Update 21st January 2026</em></strong>
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<div>See below for the full details of the fundraiser. This was set up 3 years ago, so Grace is now 8 and I am still alive! It feels like a miracle, and that I'm living on borrowed time... but I'm here despite the initial threat of it "being unlikely I'd see 12 months". It's <strong><em>very</em></strong> scary as I am now 3 years into the 3-5 year average but I'm doing well on weekly chemo. I put much of it down to the things I've been able to put in place thanks to this fundraiser. I cannot express just how much it has helped me and Grace, especially as I'm unable to work due to treatment.
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<div>We've made many memories because of kind donations. It's also helped with private medical treatments &amp; holistic therapies which I am sure are part of why I'm coping with chemo ok. I regularly update the fundraiser so to check for the latest updates, thank you
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<div><strong>So here goes …</strong>
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<div>This isn’t something I ever thought I would find myself writing, but here I am asking for help because every extra minute I get to spend with Grace, my 5-year-old daughter, is now everything to me.
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<div>In short, I have a terminal cancer diagnosis, the prognosis was “long months, less than 12” without treatment. While I can accept the diagnosis, I will not lie down and accept the prognosis, and I am determined to find a way through this and start the treatment options I have been offered shortly. But this is where I am turning to you for help.
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<div>Unfortunately, trying everything takes money, and when you can’t work, that is really hard to come by, hence going way outside my comfort zone and reaching out, begging for help. But if taking this step helps throw all I have at this cancer and to make even just one extra special moment for Grace and me to share, so be it!
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<div>I understand that there are so many worthy causes out there, and times are really tough for everyone, so I have absolutely no expectations on anyone to donate to this and am grateful just for you taking the time to look.
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<div>If you do donate, however, thank you, it means the absolute world to my family and me to help give me the best chance of being there for Grace – the thought of what she will have to go through doesn’t bear thinking about – it won’t happen!!
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<div>I desperately hope I can extend my life further through the chemo and immunotherapy treatment, giving me more precious time with Grace, for whom I would try anything to ensure I am by her side as she grows up.
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<div><strong>A bit more history</strong>
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<div>In 2020 when my daughter was just 2 years old, I was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer with limited treatments due to not having any hormone receptors. It is one that has the highest chance of reoccurrence.
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<div>I was determined to beat it. I was due 12 sessions of chemotherapy but could only manage 4 as pre-existing conditions meant my body was unable to cope with the treatment. Thankfully in those 4 treatments, my lump disappeared!
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<div>I went on to have a lumpectomy with full lymph node removal in my left arm and then 20 sessions of radiotherapy. Then in August 2020, I was given the all-clear!
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<div>The next 18 months were very hard psychologically, I felt like I had a time bomb hanging over my head that could go off at any time. However, by 2022 it all changed. I grabbed life again and did so much of what I love, it was the best year I’d had in a long time and I was loving life.
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<div>That lasted until 21st December 2022, when I found a lump on a gland.
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<div>At the time, I had a virus and assumed that was what it was, but did message the GP just in case. I have had a few cancer scares and scans since getting the all-clear, all of which I panicked over; this one, though, I didn’t. I had a reasonable explanation for it. The GP called me in that day and said she was referring me straight to oncology, and from there, me and my family’s world has pretty much fallen apart.
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<div><strong>The diagnosis</strong>
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<div>My current diagnosis is Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer in the supraclavicular node and chest area with shadows in the lung and possibly small nodes elsewhere.
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<div>It still hasn’t really sunk in. Even though I knew it was possible, nothing can prepare you for that kind of earth-shattering news. One minute you are living life and enjoying it, the next it all changes. But in a way it doesn’t, life still goes on with the normal school runs, meal prep etc. It feels unreal.
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<div>It’s agonising seeing what this puts my family and friends through too, especially mum who has been beside me through this, trying to keep it together. She has been a rock throughout this entire journey but it’s clear on the inside it’s tearing her apart.
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<div>Since I received that news, I haven’t thought about myself much and what I am going to have to go through. My thoughts are with my daughter Grace and how I have to stay alive for her. I cannot leave her without a mum, she’s only 5. How do you tell a 5-year-old her mum might die?
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<div>Due to the intensive treatment, I am facing, I will not be able to work. 18 weeks of chemotherapy and immunotherapy is what I am starting with. Immunotherapy, in particular, is likely to throw a lot of hurdles my way. I am facing hospitalisation, blood transfusions, and all the other normal chemo side effects, along with the chance that if I get a virus at the wrong time, that alone could kill me – that is not going to happen!!
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<div>There are other complementary therapies and treatments I want to include in my regime but they all cost money. Even regular yoga classes, which I believe will help my mental well-being and, in turn, my body, cost money that will not be available.
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<div>I am a firm believer that our mindsets are a massive part of our physical well-being. If you have a healthy mindset and feel good yourself, you are less stressed and the body’s immune system is stronger. That’s why complementary therapies alongside treatments are so important.
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<div>During my last cancer treatment, I had regular therapies and they were a massive part of my recovery.
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<div>Back then, I was employed and on sick pay, so could afford it. Unfortunately, I had to leave employment due to the ongoing health issues I had following cancer and took to self-employment to allow myself flexibility with my health, and daughter. So now I find myself in the situation of not being able to throw all I can at the cancer attacking my body.
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<div>Any money I raise will go towards treatments like Care Oncology Support, and holistic and complementary therapies like yoga, essential oils, reiki, massage, meditation, acupuncture, and more, as I strongly believe these all help to heal the body on all levels.
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<div>Additionally, I want to make memories with, and for Grace. We always talk about where we will travel to when she is a bit older and I now have to get on and do some of those with her.
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<div>Top of my list is the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. A fun road trip should be achievable! Then there are the simple but oh-so-special day trips I’d like to take with her. Even just visits to the local climbing centre and swimming pool, it all costs – even the fuel for a trip to Dartmoor! Sadly anything abroad is out of the question due to my infection risk, I need to keep near a UK hospital, but I very much hope we can manage to get out in between treatments, even if I have to be pushed around in a wheelchair again!!
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<div>In addition to this there is equipment which would really help make life more comfortable during treatment, and little things like boards that sit on the bed so Grace and I can easily do jigsaws together and play games. It’s these little things that do eventually add up.
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<div>For the first £6000 I donated 5% to FORCE Cancer Charity. I will now be looking to use the rest of the funds for Grace and any investigations/treatments that will support us.
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<div>If there are any funds left and I no longer need them they will be put into a Discretionary Trust for Grace.
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<div><strong>Signing off</strong>
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<div>Thank you so much for getting this far and engaging in my story. As I mentioned at the beginning, asking for help, what feels like begging to me, really goes against the grain. I just want to thank you for reading this and would ask one more favour, if you could share this to help me spread my story, maybe that share could get the eyes this needs to make just one more memory for Grace and I.
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<div>xx Kathryn xx
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<div>*I'm sure no one would but if you read this and have a child at school with Grace please don't mention this or talk about it around them, or where they might hear. It's going to be a careful process navigating this and telling Grace what she needs to know and when*
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<div><strong>Update 19th February 2023</strong>
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<div>I thought I would update the main page with some new information. Firstly thank you again to everyone who has donated, shared or just taken the time to read this. I can't believe how much has been raised, but I also can't believe I am upping my target! Thanks to the donations so far I have been able to have a private consultation to look into some further treatments not available on the NHS, they look at the metabolic side of cancer and ways in which we can try and prevent cancer cell growth but also ways to give my body as big a boost as we can to keep it as healthy as possible to fight this and lessen/cope with chemo side effects. Anyone who knows me will know that I take a holistic approach to health, for me it isn't just about killing the cancer, it's about keeping my mental, physical and spiritual health as strong as possible - that combined will give me the best chance. I have included more information in my recent update. As always I have absolutely no expectations on anyone to donate, I understand not everyone is in that position and/or may have other causes/charities as a priority- that is ok!
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<div><strong><em>We made it to the National History Museum thanks to you!</em></strong>
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Kathryn fight cancer & make memories with Grace!

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