Help Save Maria
Donation protected
I am asking for help for Maria, my wife of 26 years, mother to our two wonderful sons, partner in my business, my best friend, soul mate and all round most amazing person.
Over the years, Maria repeatedly went to her GP with acid reflux, and each time she would be asked if she was under stress or not eating adequately, when neither applied. She would be given a short course of Omeprazole and told to come back if it continued. The Omeprazole would work and life would get back to normal. However, after six months the acid reflux would return and Maria would be back to the GP. She repeatedly asked for further investigation to determine the cause of the acid reflux but the GP’s reply was without fail, always the same. “Try out the Omeprazole, if it doesn’t work come back and we’ll make further investigations.” But this never happened.
In April 2016 Maria felt a lump in the lymph nodes on her neck, having lost her best friend to non hodgkins lymphoma, she instantly went to the GP for further investigation. She was told not to worry, she was active and well and by all accounts it was probably just fatty deposits or was running an infection somewhere that wasn’t showing up due to her good health and fitness.
The irony is that while her best friend was dying of lymphoma, I too was fighting Leukaemia and was saved by a stem cell transplant. On the 28th July 2016, we went to Hammersmith Hospital for my annual check up and was given the five year all clear, we then drove to Ealing Hospital for Maria to get the results of her tests and our world fell apart. It seems cancer was not content to have touched our family twice already, Maria was next.
After 14 weeks of investigations, numerous blood tests, ultrasound scans, biopsy’s and an endoscope it was confirmed that Maria had stage 4 incurable stomach cancer spread to the lymphatic system and lungs, it was inoperable but treatable.
First line Chemotherapy started on the 23rd August, by this time Maria developed a heavy cough and breathlessness that was getting progressively worse. It was a very hard chemo regime with severe side affects, Maria lost her hair and over ten percent of her body weight due to severe nausea. But Maria seemed to be doing well on it, her cough cleared up and we felt assured that the chemo was working.
However after a scan halfway through the course of chemotherapy, it showed the chemotherapy had stopped working and the spread to the lungs had started to grow again.
She was put on the second line Chemotherapy and again we put all our hopes and prayers into this treatment working. Maria worked hard to regain some of her previous strength and fitness on this chemotherapy as she had less side affects and she was able to regain some of the weight she’d lost on the first line chemotherapy. However, again after a scan halfway through the course, it too had allowed the spread to the lungs to grow and spread even further.
Maria’s cough and breathlessness was now back and was getting progressively worse by the day. Her quality of life was starting to be seriously reduced and we were running out of options.
There is no third line chemotherapy available on the NHS for stage 4 stomach cancer and so we were referred for trials as our last chance to save Maria’s life.
On 28th December 2016, we got the news that nobody ever wants to hear. That if the new trial drug didn’t work, Maria had a matter of weeks, but not months left to live and we were advised to tell our sons the time Maria was given, to help them come to terms with it now.
The next day, Maria started a new trial drug, but it is too early to tell if it is having a positive affect, and like with all trials, Maria could easily be on a placeabo. All I see is my beautiful, vivacious wife, rapidly declining and it’s breaking my heart.
On the 4th January 2017 we got a call from our drug trial oncologist to tell us there was a new Immunotherapy drug that was working miracles with other types of cancer, they’d had some success with it for stomach cancer and it was our last hope. But there were no trials currently available and we didn’t have time to wait for a new trial which would pay for the treatment.
This immunotherapy drug is not available on the NHS for stomach cancer so we would need to self fund. As a family, we have pooled all our savings to start the first three month course of this drug but we would not be able to pay for the rest of the years treatment and so I am asking for your help to get this life saving immunotherapy drug to save my beautiful wife.
I would like to add at this point how let down we feel by our GP who never took Maria’s requests for further investigation for her acid reflux seriously. She was fit and healthy and too young to be considered for cancer investigation. However we know that if Maria’s cancer was found earlier, surgery and chemotherapy would have given her the total cure she deserves.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, please give whatever you can, and if you can’t, please pass on my fundraising page to as many people as you can. Thank you all so much.
Over the years, Maria repeatedly went to her GP with acid reflux, and each time she would be asked if she was under stress or not eating adequately, when neither applied. She would be given a short course of Omeprazole and told to come back if it continued. The Omeprazole would work and life would get back to normal. However, after six months the acid reflux would return and Maria would be back to the GP. She repeatedly asked for further investigation to determine the cause of the acid reflux but the GP’s reply was without fail, always the same. “Try out the Omeprazole, if it doesn’t work come back and we’ll make further investigations.” But this never happened.
In April 2016 Maria felt a lump in the lymph nodes on her neck, having lost her best friend to non hodgkins lymphoma, she instantly went to the GP for further investigation. She was told not to worry, she was active and well and by all accounts it was probably just fatty deposits or was running an infection somewhere that wasn’t showing up due to her good health and fitness.
The irony is that while her best friend was dying of lymphoma, I too was fighting Leukaemia and was saved by a stem cell transplant. On the 28th July 2016, we went to Hammersmith Hospital for my annual check up and was given the five year all clear, we then drove to Ealing Hospital for Maria to get the results of her tests and our world fell apart. It seems cancer was not content to have touched our family twice already, Maria was next.
After 14 weeks of investigations, numerous blood tests, ultrasound scans, biopsy’s and an endoscope it was confirmed that Maria had stage 4 incurable stomach cancer spread to the lymphatic system and lungs, it was inoperable but treatable.
First line Chemotherapy started on the 23rd August, by this time Maria developed a heavy cough and breathlessness that was getting progressively worse. It was a very hard chemo regime with severe side affects, Maria lost her hair and over ten percent of her body weight due to severe nausea. But Maria seemed to be doing well on it, her cough cleared up and we felt assured that the chemo was working.
However after a scan halfway through the course of chemotherapy, it showed the chemotherapy had stopped working and the spread to the lungs had started to grow again.
She was put on the second line Chemotherapy and again we put all our hopes and prayers into this treatment working. Maria worked hard to regain some of her previous strength and fitness on this chemotherapy as she had less side affects and she was able to regain some of the weight she’d lost on the first line chemotherapy. However, again after a scan halfway through the course, it too had allowed the spread to the lungs to grow and spread even further.
Maria’s cough and breathlessness was now back and was getting progressively worse by the day. Her quality of life was starting to be seriously reduced and we were running out of options.
There is no third line chemotherapy available on the NHS for stage 4 stomach cancer and so we were referred for trials as our last chance to save Maria’s life.
On 28th December 2016, we got the news that nobody ever wants to hear. That if the new trial drug didn’t work, Maria had a matter of weeks, but not months left to live and we were advised to tell our sons the time Maria was given, to help them come to terms with it now.
The next day, Maria started a new trial drug, but it is too early to tell if it is having a positive affect, and like with all trials, Maria could easily be on a placeabo. All I see is my beautiful, vivacious wife, rapidly declining and it’s breaking my heart.
On the 4th January 2017 we got a call from our drug trial oncologist to tell us there was a new Immunotherapy drug that was working miracles with other types of cancer, they’d had some success with it for stomach cancer and it was our last hope. But there were no trials currently available and we didn’t have time to wait for a new trial which would pay for the treatment.
This immunotherapy drug is not available on the NHS for stomach cancer so we would need to self fund. As a family, we have pooled all our savings to start the first three month course of this drug but we would not be able to pay for the rest of the years treatment and so I am asking for your help to get this life saving immunotherapy drug to save my beautiful wife.
I would like to add at this point how let down we feel by our GP who never took Maria’s requests for further investigation for her acid reflux seriously. She was fit and healthy and too young to be considered for cancer investigation. However we know that if Maria’s cancer was found earlier, surgery and chemotherapy would have given her the total cure she deserves.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, please give whatever you can, and if you can’t, please pass on my fundraising page to as many people as you can. Thank you all so much.
Organizer
Andy Johnson
Organizer
