Roxy’s Miracle, Finding A Clinical Trial For Roxy

HI There, our names are Kim and Louise and we are trying to raise funds for our good friend Roxy Phelan.

 

Roxy was first diagnosed in 2017 with stage 1B2 Cervical Cancer. At this early stage Roxy was treated with Cisplatin Chemotherapy, External Radiation and Brachy therapy. After treatment ended Roxy went through the usual checkups every few weeks and for two years it was assumed that she was in the clear. Unfortunately in 2019 after a routine scan it was discovered that the cancer was still present and had spread to the para aortic lymph node which meant the cancer was now stage 4 and to make matters worse the previous treatment of external radiation had damaged her bladder and kidneys.

 

Fast forward to 2021 and Roxy has persevered palliative chemotherapy which fought back some of the cancer and she was then put on to the Pembrolizumab to try to prevent the remaining cancer from spreading any further.

 

Roxy was doing great on the pembrolizumab for a while, she was happy and grasping everything life had to offer her with a thirst! She would be up first thing in the morning and seeing her two young boys off to school, she would get in a nice 10k walk with her faithful dog Grace and she would snap pictures along the way while basking in gratitude at the world around her and the life she had been afforded by the miracle of modern medicine. Roxy would maintain her home and cook for her family and she became a valuable admin for the support group Cervical Cancer Awareness Ireland (CCAI). Roxy has provided valuable information, a shoulder to lean on and a firm friendship for many many women who have been unfortunate enough to struck by this horrendous cancer.

 

In and around 4 months ago Roxy developed severe pain in her left hip which grounded her completely, she was no longer able to go for her walks (lets face it they were mini marathons) she is unable to help around the house and the pain was so severe it caused her to vomit constantly! She has lost 10kg in weight and she is unable to stomach much and it has taken a long time to get on top the pain relief.

 

Today 5th November 2021 Roxy received the devastating news that the cancer has spread further and this is what is causing the unbearable pain in the hip, she has now been taken off the Pembro and unless a suitable trial is found in Ireland she will need to do Palliative chemo once again but this time they will throw all the big guns at her and her quality of life will be drastically reduced. Roxy is already in a wheel chair and she is trying to adjust to her new norm.

 

Roxy is the mother of two young boys, Cathal (10) and Setanta (5) and she is the loving wife of Jason. When Roxy was first diagnosed with cancer and under went the traumatic treatment of Cisplatin (it really is the devil) and Radiation she became very weak and Jason needed to reduce his work load and become a full time carer for his family.

 

Roxy has been a tremendous help to so many people, before she became unwell she volunteered her time working with the homeless and distributing care packages. Roxys role within the CCAI has been vital to so many women and to her friends and family she is irreplaceable, a real one in a million! she really puts out so much love and tenderness to the universe and now we (her F&F) want the universe to give back!

Roxy lives in Laois and has to travel to three different hospitals for her appointments, she will go to Tullamore for bloods then the following day is Beaumont for treatment and St Lukes for scans and consultation, this can all happen in the same week and the cost of fuel for these journeys is crippling for this family and on treatment days Jason and the two young laddies will be sitting in the car all day waiting for her because childcare is a luxury they can not afford! there have been times where Roxy has had to get in the car after hearing bad news and try to keep herself together until the boys are out of earshot.

 

We want to raise funds for Roxy to help her find a clinical trial anywhere in the world and be able to afford the necessity of travel, medicine and subsidy and also to be able to explore some off the cuff treatments that can be gotten in Ireland but not covered on the medical card like vitamin C infusions and hyperbaric oxygen therapy and even the cost of an Oncofocus test to help us find the correct clinical trials.

 

Please help us raise these funds for this truly amazing woman but donating as much or as little as you possibly can and if you are unable to donate at present then please keep forwarding this go fund me so it can reach the people who can.

 

The very kindest of regards

Louise and Kim