Our Mum Paula's Treatment Fund.
Donation protected
Hi everyone, this page is for our mum Paula. We're aiming to raise £40,000 to fund her bowel cancer treatment, to prolong and to save her life.
Our mum's just 50 years old, she is our rock and has always put us, and our step dad Lee, first. Even now she finds it hard to let us help her and tries to make everyday as normal as possible for us. She is always optimistic, looking for a positive for every negative, and she has met every treatment head on, showing a truly amazing strength of character and being the tough Mumma we love with all our hearts. We have had a lot of knock backs along this journey, but every time she's picked herself back up and dug deep to get us and her through them.
Background
In 2013, Paula started having issues with her bowels. She visited the GP a number of times and was referred to have a colonoscopy - a scope that looks at the entire large bowel. However, the hospital decided that her symptoms only needed to be checked with a sigmoidoscopy - a scope that only looks at the left side of the bowel. The results came back all clear and she was told it was probably issues from when she went through childbirth.
Fast forward to 2016, and Mum's bowel issues hadn't improved and for someone extremely fit - playing netball, doing spin classes and visiting the gym, non smoker and eating a healthy diet - she was finding it hard to climb the stairs without being out of breath. After a number of dismissive visits to the GP, she was sent for a blood test which showed she was extremely anaemic, and again she was sent for a colonoscopy. This time the full colonoscopy took place and a large tumour was discovered in her bowel, next to her appendix, on the right hand side. Within a week, she had surgery to remove the tumour and her surgeon told her it had probably been quietly growing there for a few years and a full colonoscopy before may well have discovered it!!
After surgery, Mum was told that her treatment plan was curative and that she just needed 6 months of 'mop up' FOLFOX chemotherapy, to kill off any stray cells left behind.
This chemotherapy was tough! Mum often struggled with the side effects, particularly the neuropathy in her hands and feet, often making it difficult for her to walk and to hold things. Her blood count also dropped dramatically and she eventually had to have a dose reduction, of the chemotherapy, due to the risk of her getting an infection.
We celebrated her finishing chemotherapy by having all our friends and family round for afternoon tea ...... only to be told that her follow up CT scan showed that she had developed tumours in her lungs and she was now classed as Stage 4 and incurable. Heartbroken does not come close to how we have felt since that day.
After a chemotherapy break, in 2017 mum started her first line of chemotherapy treatment, FOLFIRI, to hopefully reduce the tumours in her lungs and lymph nodes in her chest. This was successful, and although the tumours didn't disappear, they reduced enough for her to be considered for ablation therapy or surgery. They biopsied the lymph nodes and found they contained no cancer cells, but instead we were told it was sarcoidosis, a condition where the body's immune system has gone into "overdrive" and the body starts to attack its own cells, possibly caused by the chemotherapy treatment. As there was no cancer present, mum was able to have surgery to remove the tumours from her left lung. However the follow up CT scan, before her right lung surgery, showed that during the chemotherapy break , three tumours had developed in her liver and her surgery was now on hold!
So, in 2018 she returned to FOLFOX chemotherapy, as her second line treatment, in the aim to control the liver and lung tumours. This was partly successful, as the liver responded well and the lungs remained stable. It was then decided, after a break over Christmas, that in January 2019 she would return to FOLFIRI again . A scan after a further 6 cycles of FOLFIRI showed that again she was having a good response and all areas had again reduced in size.
BUT
In April 2019 mum walked into a post causing her to have a few headaches and she suddenly started having coloured lights appearing in her vision. Her oncologist decided to send her for a head scan, "just to be sure it's just a head bump", and unfortunately, the scan showed a tumour in the area of the brain that controls sight. The tumour doubled in size quickly, because it developed a good blood supply, and so after a number of meetings at the hospital, on 20th June 2019, mum had open surgery to remove the tumour. She has made an amazing recovery from the operation and is already asking when she can restart chemotherapy!
In total so far, mum has had almost 50 rounds of various chemotherapy treatments. She has had the right side of her bowel removed, a left lung resection, developed small tumours in her liver whilst on a chemotherapy break, and had brain surgery. We think she is amazing!
Kras Mutation - what does this mean?
When bowel cancer is diagnosed at stage 4, a tumour sample is taken to test for any mutations on the cells, to see whether any targeted treatments can be added on the NHS. Mum's tumour showed that she has a Kras mutation, which is an aggressive mutation with a poor prognosis and means she can't have any of the targeted drugs available on the NHS, so once the current chemotherapies she is on stop working, she has very few options left.
There is however a targeted treatment drug that mum could have, but it's now only covered, in the UK, by private health insurance, which we don't have. It is a drug that is routinely given to patients in America and other parts of Europe, but is not given in the UK unless you are able to pay for it. The drug is called Bevacizumab and is known as Avastin.
What is AVASTIN?
Avastin works by targeting a protein that helps cancer cells to grow blood vessels, this allows them a good blood supply to feed off, to grow and to survive. Avastin blocks this protein, which stops the blood vessels from developing, and this then means the cancer cells are starved and and can't grow. When given alongside a current chemotherapy, this means the chemotherapy drugs are able to work better and are more effective at killing the cancer cells.
From our own research we have found that Avastin works well for controlling tumours with Kras mutations and many stage 4 patients, able to access the drug, are currently in remission with no evidence of disease.
Why Go Fund ME?
Avastin is a drug we believe will work extremely well for our mum. The Kras mutation has shown that it is able to develop a good blood supply, and by preventing these blood supplies from developing and allowing the chemotherapy a better chance to kill the cancer cells, we are confident that the tumours can be dramatically reduced and could even mean that mum will become eligible for surgery to remove the tumours permanently. Unfortunately, the cost of Avastin is £2000 per cycle, something that we cannot afford and the reason for us deciding to set up this Go Fund Me page.
Our mum, Paula, has beaten the odds so far and has fought a tough battle against this awful disease. She has worked hard to keep herself as fit and healthy as possible, to give herself a better chance to beat this! We want to help her to have the best hope possible to do this, we need our mum here as long as possible!
We are always being asked how people can help, and to be honest, the help we need now is in funding this treatment that would literally be helping to save our mum's life.
Any donation, no matter how big or small, is most welcome, and we ask that you help us to share our page as far and wide as possible. Every penny is much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your support, from the bottom of our hearts!
Paula, Lee, Genevieve, Maddie and Jake!
Our mum's just 50 years old, she is our rock and has always put us, and our step dad Lee, first. Even now she finds it hard to let us help her and tries to make everyday as normal as possible for us. She is always optimistic, looking for a positive for every negative, and she has met every treatment head on, showing a truly amazing strength of character and being the tough Mumma we love with all our hearts. We have had a lot of knock backs along this journey, but every time she's picked herself back up and dug deep to get us and her through them.
Background
In 2013, Paula started having issues with her bowels. She visited the GP a number of times and was referred to have a colonoscopy - a scope that looks at the entire large bowel. However, the hospital decided that her symptoms only needed to be checked with a sigmoidoscopy - a scope that only looks at the left side of the bowel. The results came back all clear and she was told it was probably issues from when she went through childbirth.
Fast forward to 2016, and Mum's bowel issues hadn't improved and for someone extremely fit - playing netball, doing spin classes and visiting the gym, non smoker and eating a healthy diet - she was finding it hard to climb the stairs without being out of breath. After a number of dismissive visits to the GP, she was sent for a blood test which showed she was extremely anaemic, and again she was sent for a colonoscopy. This time the full colonoscopy took place and a large tumour was discovered in her bowel, next to her appendix, on the right hand side. Within a week, she had surgery to remove the tumour and her surgeon told her it had probably been quietly growing there for a few years and a full colonoscopy before may well have discovered it!!
After surgery, Mum was told that her treatment plan was curative and that she just needed 6 months of 'mop up' FOLFOX chemotherapy, to kill off any stray cells left behind.
This chemotherapy was tough! Mum often struggled with the side effects, particularly the neuropathy in her hands and feet, often making it difficult for her to walk and to hold things. Her blood count also dropped dramatically and she eventually had to have a dose reduction, of the chemotherapy, due to the risk of her getting an infection.
We celebrated her finishing chemotherapy by having all our friends and family round for afternoon tea ...... only to be told that her follow up CT scan showed that she had developed tumours in her lungs and she was now classed as Stage 4 and incurable. Heartbroken does not come close to how we have felt since that day.
After a chemotherapy break, in 2017 mum started her first line of chemotherapy treatment, FOLFIRI, to hopefully reduce the tumours in her lungs and lymph nodes in her chest. This was successful, and although the tumours didn't disappear, they reduced enough for her to be considered for ablation therapy or surgery. They biopsied the lymph nodes and found they contained no cancer cells, but instead we were told it was sarcoidosis, a condition where the body's immune system has gone into "overdrive" and the body starts to attack its own cells, possibly caused by the chemotherapy treatment. As there was no cancer present, mum was able to have surgery to remove the tumours from her left lung. However the follow up CT scan, before her right lung surgery, showed that during the chemotherapy break , three tumours had developed in her liver and her surgery was now on hold!
So, in 2018 she returned to FOLFOX chemotherapy, as her second line treatment, in the aim to control the liver and lung tumours. This was partly successful, as the liver responded well and the lungs remained stable. It was then decided, after a break over Christmas, that in January 2019 she would return to FOLFIRI again . A scan after a further 6 cycles of FOLFIRI showed that again she was having a good response and all areas had again reduced in size.
BUT
In April 2019 mum walked into a post causing her to have a few headaches and she suddenly started having coloured lights appearing in her vision. Her oncologist decided to send her for a head scan, "just to be sure it's just a head bump", and unfortunately, the scan showed a tumour in the area of the brain that controls sight. The tumour doubled in size quickly, because it developed a good blood supply, and so after a number of meetings at the hospital, on 20th June 2019, mum had open surgery to remove the tumour. She has made an amazing recovery from the operation and is already asking when she can restart chemotherapy!
In total so far, mum has had almost 50 rounds of various chemotherapy treatments. She has had the right side of her bowel removed, a left lung resection, developed small tumours in her liver whilst on a chemotherapy break, and had brain surgery. We think she is amazing!
Kras Mutation - what does this mean?
When bowel cancer is diagnosed at stage 4, a tumour sample is taken to test for any mutations on the cells, to see whether any targeted treatments can be added on the NHS. Mum's tumour showed that she has a Kras mutation, which is an aggressive mutation with a poor prognosis and means she can't have any of the targeted drugs available on the NHS, so once the current chemotherapies she is on stop working, she has very few options left.
There is however a targeted treatment drug that mum could have, but it's now only covered, in the UK, by private health insurance, which we don't have. It is a drug that is routinely given to patients in America and other parts of Europe, but is not given in the UK unless you are able to pay for it. The drug is called Bevacizumab and is known as Avastin.
What is AVASTIN?
Avastin works by targeting a protein that helps cancer cells to grow blood vessels, this allows them a good blood supply to feed off, to grow and to survive. Avastin blocks this protein, which stops the blood vessels from developing, and this then means the cancer cells are starved and and can't grow. When given alongside a current chemotherapy, this means the chemotherapy drugs are able to work better and are more effective at killing the cancer cells.
From our own research we have found that Avastin works well for controlling tumours with Kras mutations and many stage 4 patients, able to access the drug, are currently in remission with no evidence of disease.
Why Go Fund ME?
Avastin is a drug we believe will work extremely well for our mum. The Kras mutation has shown that it is able to develop a good blood supply, and by preventing these blood supplies from developing and allowing the chemotherapy a better chance to kill the cancer cells, we are confident that the tumours can be dramatically reduced and could even mean that mum will become eligible for surgery to remove the tumours permanently. Unfortunately, the cost of Avastin is £2000 per cycle, something that we cannot afford and the reason for us deciding to set up this Go Fund Me page.
Our mum, Paula, has beaten the odds so far and has fought a tough battle against this awful disease. She has worked hard to keep herself as fit and healthy as possible, to give herself a better chance to beat this! We want to help her to have the best hope possible to do this, we need our mum here as long as possible!
We are always being asked how people can help, and to be honest, the help we need now is in funding this treatment that would literally be helping to save our mum's life.
Any donation, no matter how big or small, is most welcome, and we ask that you help us to share our page as far and wide as possible. Every penny is much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your support, from the bottom of our hearts!
Paula, Lee, Genevieve, Maddie and Jake!
Organizer
Paula Horwite
Organizer