Sarah's Cancer Treatment Fund - Buying Time!!

So, this is quite a strange thing for me to do and I've been putting it off for a while! It is after all, a rather big ask for help!!

But then, it was also quite strange being a seemingly fit and healthy, very hyperactive, vegan, 33 year old mum of a beautiful 3 year old (now 4!) LOVING running her own successful personal training business... studying, training, frankly rushing around like a lunatic...to then being diagnosed with advanced stage incurable metastatic bowel cancer, soooo who can really say what is normal any more!

So yes, as a lot of you may know, last July, I was diagnosed with the above, which had sadly spread to my lung and liver after being missed when I reached out for medical help. It was (and is) THE most shocking thing that's ever happened in my life. In an instant, my entire world has been tipped on its head and everything as I knew it is entirely changed...seemingly forever.

Unfortunately, the spread to my liver has been the clincher, it was so densely infiltrated with cancer (around 65%) I was told that if there had been one more tumour, my care would have been purely palliative and that I wouldn't have been able to handle any treatment. As it stood, I was told I was being rushed in front of 25 other patients and starting a gruelling chemotherapy regimen 6 days later as there wasn't a moment to lose. To say I was shocked and scared would be an understatement.

I was told I didn't have very long to live... However my initial response to my chemotherapy regimen was FANTASTIC and we saw a huuuge reduction in my tumours. No one said this changed the prognosis and it has been confirmed it is still not operable...however, it certainly looked extremely positive. However, this treatment won't work forever and is already showing signs of slowing down currently. I am currently awaiting scan results, but my tumour markers have risen drastically these last few weeks and it looks increasingly likely that the cancer is growing again, much sooner than we'd hoped.

I have been told that when (not if) my current treatment plan stops working, my best option would be to move treatment plans to include an immunotherapy drug called Bevacizumab (aka: Avastin) However, the issue I have is that Avastin isn't available on the NHS and therefore I would need to move on to what's known as a "co-funded" plan, which would mean that all my other treatments/consultations/scans etc would still be free (so I would still be an NHS patient) but the Avastin I would need to fund myself

The cost of this would be a rather hefty: ***£600 every 3 weeks!!***

So this is where you guys come in. I'm not ready to leave any time soon. I'm completely determined to outlive my prognosis. I want to survive...Ideally I want to live long enough for science to save me!! It's only incurable until they find a cure, right? But for my dreams of staying here to be realised, I need more time.

I really do just want time. I LOVE life and have so much to live for and do. I want to watch my incredible daughter who I'm COMPLETELY in awe of, grow up and see what beautiful things she will do. I want to cuddle my family and friends and dance and sing and be silly. I want to go and explore the world and eat ALL the delicious food. I want to learn to play guitar! I want to live long enough that I can help people like me that have been dealt this crazy hand. There's so very much I want, but really I just want time and an opportunity to live a full life and see where it will take me. I don't want to leave. And I do NOT want to leave my magical daughter without a mother. Not any time soon anyway.

So, here I am, hat in hand asking for some help to stay. The treatment would be ongoing every 3 weeks so I'm going to set the target quite high (I've worked out 2 years worth of treatments initially - plus the cost of some gene mapping to see if there are any other game changing drugs available to my specific tumours) but honestly, any help will make so much difference and I would be ETERNALLY grateful.

Any amount would help of COURSE and one off donations are so so welcomed...another way to break it down, is if I could get 100 of my pals (or pals of pals) to help me out with £6 every 3 weeks (or some paying less, some more if they could, but you get the gist!) you'd literally be keeping me alive! I could never express my gratitude and imagine the good karma coming your way!

Thank you so so much for taking the time to read this. Please share far and wide with your family and friends, I need all the help I can get!

Big love,

Sarah xxxxx