Terminal Cancer - Making Memories for Charlene

Never in a million years did we think we would be doing this. We are setting up this page because we need your help.

Our beautiful wife/sister/friend Charlene Cole who is 38 years old has been given the devastating news that she has terminal cancer.

Char is a loving wife to Phil, a beautiful daughter to Sue and Nigel, special sister to Natalie, an incredible stepmother to 17-year-old Ben, a fantastic aunt to Summer and Buddy and a loving and special soul to everyone who knows her.

She has been told that she has limited time to enjoy life as the independent and strong woman that she is. We believe that Char deserves to enjoy the rest of her life with her family and friends, without having to worry about money or the future of her family. Char has always put everyone else before herself and she has concerns about leaving people behind with financial burdens. Her family and friends are asking for your support to raise some money so she can create as many memories as possible in the time that she has left, cover any medical treatments, and buy any assistive technology to enable her to live as independently as she can.

This is where we are hoping anyone who reads this will be able to make a donation, we will all be grateful for any amount that you can spare. Char is always the first person to support her loved ones through any of life’s problems and now she needs our help. We would love to make sure Char has the means to enjoy her life as she would like to and take away any stress to complete her bucket list (with one of her dreams being flying to Disney World in Florida).

Here is her story:

Beginning in March 2020 Charlene endured 8 months of various scans and tests with no definitive diagnosis. Charlene had a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy on 5th November 2020. After 2 weeks in hospital, she went home only to be called 2 days later and told she had pancreatic cancer and needed to return to hospital immediately for a further surgery called Whipple / Total pancreatectomy on the 23rd November 2020.

These surgeries have involved reconstructing her digestive system and resulted in her becoming an insulin dependent diabetic in which she has had to learn to manage her sugar levels, after having hypoglycaemic attacks. Alongside this, she has had to be fed via a tube for 6 months due to a substantial amount of weight loss, 6 month’s worth of chemotherapy, blood tests, CT scans and to make the situation worse, she has had to endure the numerous hospital visits alone because of COVID-19.

Regardless of all these challenges she has faced she has come out of the other side with positivity and the hope of a bright future… Only to be told in November 2021 that the cancer has spread to her liver and is inoperable, meaning that her only option is to have palliative chemotherapy in an attempt to prevent the cancer growing and spreading further. Charlene has been given a prognosis of approximately 6-9 months with treatment and even less without.

Thank you so much for reading this post and please feel free to share. Your love and support are much appreciated.