Support Natasha’s battle with breast cancer

Asking for and accepting help is not in my nature. I like to do everything myself. Partly because I’m a control freak. And stubborn. Partly because I don’t like putting on other people. After all, we all lead busy, stressful lives.

However, it’s come to a point in my life where I need to ask for help. Maybe even from total strangers. Because without it, my prognosis is looking very bleak. Here’s my story (which I’ve tried to keep as brief as possible)…….

We all know somebody affected by cancer. No doubt we’ve lost a friend or family member to the C word. I’ve had five family members who have had cancer. For my mum, and two cousins it was breast cancer. My nan lung, My auntie brain. Three of those people are sadly no longer with us. The other two have survived so far and fingers crossed will stay in remission. If caught early enough, breast cancer can be cured.

Five years ago once we discovered we had the BRAC1 gene mutation running in the family. More information on this can be found here (https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-brca). This meant my chances of getting breast cancer was 85%. The option was the carry on with yearly scans, or lessen the risk with preventative surgery. It was a no-brainer for me and I underwent a double mastectomy. This took my chances of getting breast cancer to less than 5%.

In March 2022, I noticed a lump under my right arm in my lymph nodes. I immediately went to the GP and was soon referred to the hospital for a CT scan and biopsy. The results showed I had swollen lymph nodes in my right armpit, neck and behind the breast bone on both sides. I was told I had stage 3/4 triple negative breast cancer. The same as my mum and two cousins.

I started a course of chemotherapy which made me extremely ill. I could barely get out of bed. I started to lose all of my hair, had really bad migraines, extreme fatigue, sore mouth, and was constantly cold. Compared to some people, I reckon I got off quite lightly.

Due to how ill I was, I started researching supplements and other things I could take to help myself and at least make me feel more human. In my research (local health shops and practitioners, internet, books, and speaking with other cancer patients), I unearthed another side to cancer treatments that I’d never heard of. I started speaking with people who had cured themselves of stage four cancers including throat, breast and lung. I was completely amazed to find this whole other world of cancer treatments. Why did I not know about this? Why didn’t my oncologist advise any of this during my appointments?

The reason is, that under the 1939 Cancer Act, it is against the law to treat cancer with anything other than the conventional treatments of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. So if you’re a cancer patient in the UK, this is the only option. Of course there are other drugs and treatments such as immunotherapy, however for triple negative breast cancer there are still limited options. It’s the most difficult, and aggressive breast cancer to treat.

Due to the late stage of my cancer and poor prognosis for some of my family members, I decided to go down the route of alternative treatments. The only issue would be, I would have to fund it all myself due to this not being available on the NHS or covered my medical insurance.

On my current protocol, I’m not even three months in. However I’m quickly eating in to the small amount of savings I have. I had to take the decision to go on sick at work because I was struggling to juggle that with everything I’m doing on a daily basis. It has become a full time job in itself. Plus spending as much time with my two children, family and friends has become a priority.

If I can raise enough funds to continue at least another six months of treatment, there are high hopes that my cancer CAN be cured. If I decided to undergo more chemotherapy, this would only prolong my life. The oncologist has stated that it is not curable using conventional treatments. His words were that I have less than twelve months left to live.

If in three months’ time my cancer hasn’t improved, I will look to undergo more chemotherapy, which will bide me a bit more time. However, I’ve got really high hopes for kicking this in the butt following my current regime. What I need to do is get rid and ensure it never comes back. The only thing holding me back is the financial implications of it all.

Understanding everything I’m doing is a complete minefield. I’ve only just scratched the surface. However, if anybody has any questions or is interested to know more, please feel free to contact me.

I understand in the current climate, times are hard. Prices of bills are creeping up. Food, fuel, other everyday living items. However, if you could spare anything to help towards the cost of my treatments via my Go Fund Me page, I would be eternally thankful.

Any money raised and not used towards my treatments will go into helping other cancer patients with a poor prognosis.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this.

Peace out ✌

Natasha x

“Helping one person might not change the whole world, but it could change the world for one person.”