Rebecca’s fight for her life

Hello, my name is Rebecca and I’m here to try and raise funds to help pay for vital treatment I need to survive stage 4 Bowel Cancer. If you have some time I would be so grateful if you could please read on.

My story

At the age of 12 years old I was diagnosed with a genetic condition called FAP (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis) it’s a condition where polyps grow within the large colon and rectum. These polyps can grow to a certain size and turn cancerous. I had my large colon removed at 14 years old and then was monitored every six months with a flexi sigmoidoscopy.

Then at the age of 19 I was diagnosed with a condition called desmoid tumour disease, this is where benign tumours grow from scar tissue in the body. This is related to FAP. One Desmoid that grew was tangled within my small intestine. This desmoid grew to the size of a football over the last 17 years. The doctors could not remove it due to its position and I was on a watch and wait plan.

last year

May Last year 2024 I was admitted to hospital very unwell with an infection which was situated in the large Desmoid tumour. This had not been the first time this had happened. I spent from May to October in my local hospital whilst they managed the infection with IV antibiotics. Over the course of those 6 months I lost 5 stone in weight and had been put on TPN which is IV nutrition to try to help me put the weight back on.

In October I was sent home, the plan was for me to be placed on the waiting list for a full Bowel transplant which would take place at Addenbrooks Hospital in Cambridge. This plan would make me better.

Unfortunately in December last year I had a routine flexi sigmoidoscopy done at Saint Marks Hospital and they found that I had cancer. I was devastated, the plan for a bowel transplant was taken away and now they needed to operate to remove the cancer the best they could.

They didn’t think I would survive the surgery. I was so weak. I couldn’t walk or even stand but I was determined! I have a 13 year old son who needs me. I told the surgeon I’m going ahead with the surgery and he said he didn’t expect anything else.

This year

I had my surgery on the 31st of January this year 2025. It was hard but I pulled through and recovery in Saint Marks took me just two months. Unfortunately they couldn’t remove all of the Desmoid tumour and to add to this they found the cancer cells were on the Desmoid too. This has never happened to anyone with Desmoid tumour disease. They are always benign. The doctors are unsure how it’s happened and this is because my scans are so hard to read due to all the surgery’s in the past.

The plan was for me to come home and be referred to my local oncologist. I left London hospital at the beginning of March. I then didn’t see my oncologist until the end of April. He was concerned that the chemotherapy I needed to have would be too strong for me. He did his own scans and told me in June that the bowel cancer was stage 4. With some persuading from myself and the surgeon who done my operation, he agreed to allow me to have a half dose of 5FU a type of chemotherapy that is used for bowel cancer. So from January until now, I have still only had 1/ half dose of chemotherapy. This is nowhere near enough to manage the cancer.

My new plan

My plan now is to go privately, there is an amazing private oncologist that works closely with the surgeon that did my surgery. I did not originally get referred to her because the team believed that having chemotherapy closer to home with the NHS would have been easier and effective. It is now a little bit of a race against time to get me the treatment I desperately need. There are treatments in the private oncology sector that you cannot get on the NHS, that is my starting plan. There is also a treatment called TACE which is available in Germany. This as you can imagine is very expensive but it is also very effective in curing patients with stage four cancers.

I understand the amount of money that I am asking for is a lot but this will include the TACE treatment too. I have made a list of what the money will be spent on and how much some of the treatment costs. I will be also posting updates including fund raising events my son and partner are planning. I have made a TikTok account for these updates, with the help of my son. The account is rebeccaanne222.

Please if you can help me by donating no matter how big or small it would really help me in my fight to stay being a mother to my son Oscar, a partner to Jamie and a daughter and sister to my family. I am strong I can do this with your help.

Thank you

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for staying to read my story and for any donations that I may receive I am truly grateful.

I wish you all good health.

where funds will be spent

Private oncology Consultations - £300 to £500.

Chemotherapy per cycle - £3,500 to £7,000

CT Scans - £500 to £970

MRI Scans - £350 to £625

Radiotherapy - £5,000 to £15,000

Supplements and Integrated Therapies per month - £50 to £150

TACE in Germany minimum £30,000