Libby’s Battle Against Small Cell Ovarian Cancer

Libby’s Story

Our daughter, Libby, is 22 years old and she has been diagnosed with a very rare cancer, small cell ovarian cancer. There have only been 400 cases reported across the world.

On 22nd October 2023 Libby fell from her horse and was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured pelvis. Upon results of a CT scan it was identified that Libby had a very large mass in her abdomen. Libby was admitted to hospital and our lives were changed forever.

Initially we were told that Libby would under go surgery to remove the mass but the plan changed. We were told that surgery could not happen as the mass had attached itself to various organs and surgery would be too risky with a very high risk of loss of life.

The doctors appeared baffled as to what the mass was so a biopsy was taken on 27th October 2023. We waited patiently for two weeks then the results came back as inconclusive. The biopsy sample was then sent to a professor in Belfast to see if he could determine what the tumour was. In this time Libby’s condition had deteriorated significantly and we were told that there was a possibility that Libby’s heart may stop working over the of weekend 18/19 of November 2023. Libby proved them wrong and continues to fight to beat this cancer.

On the evening of 17th November 2023 the diagnosis was received, small cell ovarian cancer.

There has been very little research completed on this cancer due to its rarity. Having completed our own research and reaching out to doctors across the world for help, advice and support we now have a possible treatment plan.

Libby will undergo chemotherapy, followed by surgery, followed by radiotherapy and then finally immunotherapy. It is immunotherapy that we are seeking help for. This cancer is a nasty cancer and likes to come back. This therapy will give Libby the best chance to fight off any further cancer that might come back in the future. It is not currently funded via the NHS and costs around £8,000 per treatment and would be required every 3 weeks. In total this will cost in excess of £250,000. We are doing all we can to raise as much funds as we possibly can ourselves and would very much appreciate any help you can offer.

The money raised will also help create new memories for us as a family and any funds left will be split between various charities we have encountered across our journey so far.

Libby is no stranger to battling pain as she has lived her teenage life with endometriosis. In Feb 2023 she under went laparoscopic excision surgery. After being discharged from hospital she was readmitted due to a post operative infection and was given a CT scan. The results of this scan identified that there was a large adenoma deep in her liver. After many consultations it was decided that life threatening surgery would not be undertaken due to Libby’s age. On 17th October 2023, five days before her fall, the liver surgeon told Libby to go and live her life and he’d keep a very close eye on her. Between February to August 2023 Libby had three MRI scans and not one scan detected the tumour growing in her abdomen as only her thorax was scanned.

Libby lives for her horses, dogs and cats, so much so she is a student veterinary nurse and loves her job. She has a passion for Boston Terriers. From the age of 10 she would wake up at 5.30am to go to the stables, in all weathers, and muck out and feed her pony before going to school. Despite going through all the above this year she successfully passed her first year veterinary nurse exams, this is testament to her strength as an individual. Prior to nursing she worked at The Blue Cross Horse Sanctuary successfully rehabilitating many ponies to be rehomed.

Libby is a phenomenal jockey and falling off is not something that happens regularly, we believe her horse, Coco, knew Libby wasn’t well and purposely over jumped causing Libby to fall and in turn saving her life. Libby and Coco have an exceptional bond.

We have a long, hard road ahead of us, however Libby is a fighter and those who know her know she loves to prove people wrong and this is what she intends to do.

Thank you for taking the time to read Libby’s story. Once again any donations, no matter the size, will be greatly appreciated to help our beautiful daughter beat this. If you would like to learn more about this cancer please visit - https://smallcellovarian.org/index.html