Hello friends,

Our beautiful childhood friend Tricia has been facing serious battles these last many months. Diagnosed with hormone driven breast cancer this past May, Tricia was soon hospitalized and the reality of her situation was found to be even more serious. As tests were performed, Tricia learned she is also in kidney and heart failure. In addition to the cancer diagnosis, Tricia was also historically diagnosed with A-fib and cardiomyopathy. And then it was discovered she has a phaeochromocytoma; a rare tumour of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys.

After thorough investigation, it was finally determined that it would be safe to start treating the breast cancer in July.

However, it has since been discovered that Tricia's heart and kidneys are not strong enough to sustain anesthesia or cancer treatment at this time, and there is no promise she will recover the function necessary to sustain anesthesia or chemo. Recently she lost consciousness for almost 15 minutes, and had to take a taxi to the A&E as the ambulance was not able to attend to her without a 3 hour wait. Which brings us to why we are here: An External Defibrillator.

A little more about that from Tricia:

"I got on the phone with the lady from 999 and after answering various questions, it was determined that I needed an ambulance. An ambulance and a defibrillator. She said that the nearest defibrillator was just over a mile away and could someone go get it? Unfortunately, Tony is immobile and Katy is incapable of navigating such a task. She explained that it was vital as the ambulance could take up to 3 hours to get to me."

Given the issues with ambulatory transport and medical care in England, I am asking everyone to rally around Tricia, Tony and Katy in support. The plan is to purchase a defibrillator out of pocket for her to have with her at home. It is the only way we can keep Tricia safe, especially given the state of the ambulances in the UK at the moment.

Some more information from Tricia:

"In May I was diagnosed with hormone driven breast cancer. The treatment plan was 8 rounds of chemo, surgery, radiation. My treatment was slow to get started because they discovered that I have a phaeochromocytoma. A phaeochromocytoma is a rare tumour of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys. Finally in July, it was determined that it would be safe to start treating the breast cancer.

On July 23, I had my first round of chemo. I was feeling almost smug because I had such mild side effects. I thought this is a walk in the park! The chemo courses were scheduled to take place every 3 weeks. The third week came and we were preparing for the second course but I started feeling very unwell. I was admitted to hospital and treated for sepsis. The medicine they used to treat my sepsis caused both my kidneys to go into failure. Because of the state my kidneys are in, I am no longer an eligible patient to receive chemotherapy. So we started thinking about plan B to treat the breast cancer which was to go straight to surgery for a double mastectomy.

I spent 2 weeks in hospital, working to improve my kidney function and treat the sepsis. Finally, I was discharged to continue my recovery from home. In the meantime, I’ve been in and out of hospital stays for various reasons, mostly for chest infection/shortness of breath. Because of my heart failure, I am now uneligible for surgery. The surgeon says that it is very unlikely that I would come out of the surgery without experiencing a heart attack, stroke or death."

Because of the rapid onset heart and kidney failure we have learned her body and organs cannot tolerate anesthesia. It has been an onset of circumstances that have left our dear friend feeling very worried, deeply fatigued and overall, she is extremely unwell. This is affecting her family immensely and they need some peace of mind in the event that Tricia loses consciousness again. They must be at peace knowing that they have the proper equipment to start her heart, especially in the absence of ambulatory medical care.

Lets rally and get Tricia and her family the funds needed to purchase an AED (automatic external defibrillator) and help keep her heart safe from sudden cardiac arrest!

Any monies over the needed amount will be donated to the St. Johns Ambulance Charity, in an effort to help offset wait times. You can learn more about St. John's here. And, in true Tricia fashion, she will be registering her AED with St. Johns and NHS so that if anyone in her area needs it, it will be made available to them as well!

Our girl may live back across the pond now, but I know everyone will rally for our lifelong friend and dearest of hearts, Tricia. We thank you from the depths of our hearts for your generosities and loveliness.