KEEP OUR MUM JUMPING

In October 2023 our Mum was living a full, active life inspiring multitudes of children through her music teaching and enjoying her large family: four children, the youngest of whom was only 10, and her very first baby grandson, little Jasper. Everything changed when after only days of experiencing a bloated stomach she was given the shocking and devastating news that she had advanced incurable bowel cancer. It had spread to the ovaries, peritoneum, liver and lungs. She quickly became very poorly and was given 'weeks to months' to live, but fought to have chemotherapy as this was her only chance. The first line chemo helped her symptoms but could not stop the cancer progressing so she was moved on to the 'big guns', a gruelling combination of drugs with a usual limit of 12 cycles. 18 months later she has exceeded all expectations to reach cycle 36. The chemo has been relentless and at the limits of endurance but our mum has shown incredible determination to thrive and find the joy in every moment. She has joined a gym and taken up trampolining. She swims in the sea, paddleboards, kayaks, cycles and power walks. She ran 31 miles in May for the BowelBabe fund, and put on a large scale concert to raise money for cancer charities just weeks after major surgery to remove her ovarian tumour. She has been writing a blog since diagnosis, purplesams.wordpress.com, and has inspired readers across the world with her heartfelt and often humorous writing.

But now she needs help. Her long period of stability has come to an end and her liver has stopped responding to the chemo. There are only a couple of options left in the UK and these are high risk with no guaranteed results. However, there is a new procedure currently only available in the USA called Histotripsy: a straightforward and non-invasive treatment which uses ultrasound waves to liquify and destroy liver tumours. Many patients have had incredible results from it.

Histotripsy is without doubt the future of cancer medicine and one day will be widely available in the UK, but we don't have the time to wait; our Mum's condition will worsen very quickly without treatment. She has been assessed by the leading histotripsy doctor in the USA and told that she is suitable for treatment, and this needs to happen as soon as possible as her liver tumours are progressing. It is likely that she will need two treatments at a cost of £38,000 each. We are raising money to help make this a reality and give us all much more time with our lovely mum; our brother Isaac is only 12 and very much needs his Mummy, and little 3 year old Jasper his 'Mimi'. We will be so very grateful for any donations that people feel able to give. Thank you so much.