Help Elizabeth

UPDATE: We are absolutely blown away by the response. We cannot believe the kindness and generosity of so many people - both those we know and love and those we have never even met. Every penny that we raise above our target will go directly to making sure that Elizabeth makes as many incredible memories as possible.

Four weeks ago we took Elizabeth (age 16) to A & E, as she was experiencing abdominal pain and some bloating. The previous day, an out of hours GP had suggested it could be due to an ovarian cyst.

At the time an ovarian cyst and surgery felt like the end of the world…little did we know that less than 24 hours later we would receive a call telling us that she had cancer.

Scans had shown tumours on both ovaries, multiple in her liver and a larger mass in her omentum and peritoneum. As we rushed around contacting Elizabeth’s school and organising childcare for Mateo, we consoled ourselves with the statistic that 90% of teenagers with cancer survive. This was but a temporary blip on the horizon that we would battle through together as a family.

Then, three days later our world was torn apart yet again. We learnt that Elizabeth’s cancer is in fact a rare and aggressive sarcoma - Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumour. A cancer so rare that there are only 12 cases (80% of which are in males) per year in the UK, a cancer that doesn’t have a set treatment protocol because no-one has found a treatment that works. Only 15% of those diagnosed survive beyond 5 years.

In the last four weeks things we previously thought were important no longer seem so. Our sole priority now is to give Elizabeth the best possible chance of being in that 15% whilst ensuring we make the most of every single day we have. The future is far from certain, and whilst we may not be able to give Elizabeth the future she has dreamed of, we are determined to give her the best possible life for however long she has left.

We’ve thought long and hard about setting up this fundraiser, but lots of people have asked us how they can help or what they can buy for Elizabeth and this seemed like the best possible way of making a difference to her.

Elizabeth’s cancer does not always respond to standard treatments and in almost all cases it becomes resistant to them over time. If this happens we need to be prepared as the tumours often grow back much more quickly and aggressively. We therefore want to raise funds to consult with a specialist in Elizabeth’s Cancer in America in the hope that she will work alongside Elizabeth’s brilliant consultant in the UK. She is spearheading research and is involved in setting up clinical trials; we hope she will have knowledge that will help Elizabeth to live a longer life. Luckily Elizabeth does not need to travel to America to see her as she offers remote consultations with consultants abroad. It costs around £5000 per appointment including a review of the latest scans and testing her UK consultant has. We hope to use these appointments at pivotal points in her treatment when her consultants feel it is most appropriate.

If we raise funds beyond this we would like to help Elizabeth to purchase photography equipment. Her dream is to become a professional photographer and although in normal circumstances we would have encouraged her to save for what she needed - our normal rules flew out of the window about the same time as her diagnosis flew in.

Additionally, we would like to make sure that Elizabeth has as many memorable moments as possible, both so she can have incredible experiences and so that her friends and family get to store as many incredible memories of her as possible.

Note: Because of Elizabeth’s age she cannot be the official beneficiary as per GoFundMe’s rules. She is still the beneficiary and will be reviewing all funds.