SUPPORT LAURA SWANS WISH TO LIVE LONGER

Hi, I'm Laura mother to 3 great children and one of six children myself. We are all very close, and I don’t want to leave anyone just yet. I have to do everything I can to be here for as long as possible for my children.

 

This all began in Spring 2016. After a blood test, my GP sent me for an ultrasound. It was discovered that I had a large tumour in my liver during this. The following weeks consisted of many scans, biopsies and on April 4th 2016, I was diagnosed with an incurable cancer Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer). The surgeon couldn’t do anything for me but referred me to my oncologist Dr Derek Power in the Mercy University Hospital Cork. When the surgeon gave me the news, I asked how long I had to live; he said eight months to a year. I felt devastated, and all I could think of was what would my children do without me. The fear and sadness were literally choking me.

 

Those first few days were really hellish. Within ten days, I was getting my 1st chemo infusion, making a will and just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Chemo is extremely tough, and since 2016 I have had well over 200 infusions and suffered all of the unstoppable and wonderless side effects that entails. I have lost my hair, my body was alien to me, as was my sense of myself at times, but I held out HOPE for something else to come along, and now it has, and at just the right time as I have exhausted all my chemo options of treatment.

 

It is a targeted therapy specifically for a rare mutation IDH1that I have in my tumours. The FDA approved it last August to treat IDH1 positive Cholangiocarcinoma patients and is showing remarkable results with stabilising and inhibiting the growth and spread of our stubborn tumours. My oncologist has been trying to get it for me on compassionate grounds but to no avail, as it isn’t yet approved in Europe, so the only way to get it is to buy it.

 

I do not like asking for help, but it is my only option to prolong my life, and I humbly ask you to donate and support me. This drug costs over 14,000 Euros per month, and I have to take it for a minimum of 6 months and then get a scan to report on its effectiveness. This is wholly recommended and supported by Dr Derek Power and his team at the Mercy University Hospital Cork.

 

I would be so grateful for any donation. You are literally giving me time. How would I ever be able to find the right words to express my gratitude for this. Thank you sincerely.

 

Laura.