Helping mum with her ovarian cancer battle
Donation protected
My name is Fatima. I am an ordinary mother and wife, the type you may bump into at your local supermarket, at the bus stop or perhaps outside the school gates, except for one aspect.....I have an aggressive form of ovarian cancer, which is eating away at the rest of my body.
I see myself as a young person but a recent examination at a private clinic confirmed that my future is limited if I don't act now. Acting now means I need to shrink or remove the tumour within months otherwise I face my major organs being ravaged by the disease. My current situation looks bleak, but I am a positive person and feel I can beat this challenge and see my children marry, hold my grandchildren and live out my twilight years happily with my husband. At the end of the day, I am just like any other person on the other side of the street.
I am currently unable to do the simple things a mother and wife should do. My 'inflated ball' prevents me from sleeping adequately and thus makes me feel tired throughout the day. Pain is continual and my stomach area feels like something is squeezing all my ribs and organs against the sides. As a result, my husband tends to fulfil many duties as we have no family in Birmingham to offer any help.
Background
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In 2010 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on my left ovary. I undertook an emergency operation (midline laparotomy) with the NHS to have this removed. However, at the end of 2019, the NHS confirmed “within the pelvis, a large complex mass” after I complained of growing pain and a strange stomach shape. My cancer returned more emphatically and subsequently began eating away at my bones where my arms and shoulders now resemble a skeleton. Due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, waiting times within the NHS have become unrealistic and my chances of survival is very low. My objective now is to act fast and have the tumour removed.
Nobody is ever sure why cancer suddenly appears like a black cloud. Ovarian cancer is an aggressive illness and can steal away everything that gives a woman her femininity and self-assurance. I have seen my body diminish from a well-rounded, healthy young woman to a living skeleton although I made no changes to my diet. The tumour represents my sickness and is the physical representation and reason why the rest of my body is in demise.
The light at the end of the tunnel
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Through hours and hours of research my husband and I have found a consultant in Spain that specializes in my condition. His private clinic has the latest technology that can shrink the tumour and are able to administer chemotherapy at the same time. This option gives me hope and offers my four children a chance to live out their teenage years (and beyond) with their mother; the chance to walk in the park together on a warm summer's day or simply watching a movie together during the weekends. Those little things that make our lives fun and memorable.
This treatment will cost up to £30,000 which will include a 4 week stay at the clinic, the tumour treatment, chemotherapy, supplements, after-support care and changes to my living conditions in the UK.
I ask you as a mother, as a wife and as a human to please donate anything you can so I can make this trip to Spain in order to avoid an early death and return to my ordinary life.
I see myself as a young person but a recent examination at a private clinic confirmed that my future is limited if I don't act now. Acting now means I need to shrink or remove the tumour within months otherwise I face my major organs being ravaged by the disease. My current situation looks bleak, but I am a positive person and feel I can beat this challenge and see my children marry, hold my grandchildren and live out my twilight years happily with my husband. At the end of the day, I am just like any other person on the other side of the street.
I am currently unable to do the simple things a mother and wife should do. My 'inflated ball' prevents me from sleeping adequately and thus makes me feel tired throughout the day. Pain is continual and my stomach area feels like something is squeezing all my ribs and organs against the sides. As a result, my husband tends to fulfil many duties as we have no family in Birmingham to offer any help.
Background
--------------------
In 2010 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on my left ovary. I undertook an emergency operation (midline laparotomy) with the NHS to have this removed. However, at the end of 2019, the NHS confirmed “within the pelvis, a large complex mass” after I complained of growing pain and a strange stomach shape. My cancer returned more emphatically and subsequently began eating away at my bones where my arms and shoulders now resemble a skeleton. Due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, waiting times within the NHS have become unrealistic and my chances of survival is very low. My objective now is to act fast and have the tumour removed.
Nobody is ever sure why cancer suddenly appears like a black cloud. Ovarian cancer is an aggressive illness and can steal away everything that gives a woman her femininity and self-assurance. I have seen my body diminish from a well-rounded, healthy young woman to a living skeleton although I made no changes to my diet. The tumour represents my sickness and is the physical representation and reason why the rest of my body is in demise.
The light at the end of the tunnel
--------------------------------------------------------
Through hours and hours of research my husband and I have found a consultant in Spain that specializes in my condition. His private clinic has the latest technology that can shrink the tumour and are able to administer chemotherapy at the same time. This option gives me hope and offers my four children a chance to live out their teenage years (and beyond) with their mother; the chance to walk in the park together on a warm summer's day or simply watching a movie together during the weekends. Those little things that make our lives fun and memorable.
This treatment will cost up to £30,000 which will include a 4 week stay at the clinic, the tumour treatment, chemotherapy, supplements, after-support care and changes to my living conditions in the UK.
I ask you as a mother, as a wife and as a human to please donate anything you can so I can make this trip to Spain in order to avoid an early death and return to my ordinary life.
Organizer and beneficiary
Adam Bhogal
Organizer
England
Fatima Benchemakh
Beneficiary
