I’m naturally a very private person, but also a very positive one, so I never imagined I would be writing something like this:

December 2020 was a time filled with uncertainty. I had just lost my business due to COVID lockdowns and it was on Christmas Eve of that year that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Soon after, I was spending my 60th birthday in isolation.

I couldn’t believe this was happening to me, yet trusted I would find a way through the mire I was facing.

Over these past few years, I have done everything I could to fight this disease. I changed my lifestyle completely, supported my body through treatment, and held tightly to hope.

Stress is also an enormous factor in causing cancer so to help with stress relief, I started painting landscape watercolours; some from real life and some abstract via my imagination.

I found they gave me peace …

So I did some more …

In 2023 after undergoing surgery for a mastectomy, I truly believed that this awful chapter was closing and I could begin rebuilding my life.

Sadly, in early 2025, after months of increased coughing and worsening breathlessness, I was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to my lungs.

Hearing the word “terminal” is something no one is ever prepared for

However, I simply could not accept that this was the end of my story. With determination and further treatment, I began to stabilise and even saw encouraging signs of improvement. However, due to a lack of funds to continue my specialist treatment, I learned in January that the cancer had now also spread to my liver.

The situation I find myself in is now serious, and the urgency is real

I have used both my pension and all my savings to fund my own care so far, because I am proud, I am strong and I’m adamant I will live a full long life. For that to happen though, I now see that I can no longer do this alone.

I need help …

There are further treatment options available to me, but they come at significant cost.

If you are able to contribute in any way, no matter how small, it would mean more than I can put into words. Every amount truly helps.

Plus, simply sharing this page would be deeply appreciated.

I will conquer this …

Thank you so very much

Izzy x