Please help Dina’s battle against cancer

Help us save our mummy

Assalamu alaikum,

My name is Dina. I am 29 years old and I have been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I have a 2-year-old son and just had my second baby 8 weeks ago. Thank you for reading my story and please share if you can.

During the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy, I suffered from extreme back and pelvic pain. I also suffered from severe headaches and migraines. The symptoms were so bad that I was at A&E every week or so throughout the pregnancy. I couldn’t sleep at night, was bedridden, and was in a wheelchair towards the end of my pregnancy because of the pain. The hospital put my symptoms down to just being pregnant.

A month before I gave birth, the hospital carried out an MRI; they initially found a slight growth in the brain but didn’t know what it was. A chest x-ray was also done and I was falsely given the all-clear. Fourteen days after the birth of my son by c-section, sometime in late October, further scans and tests revealed extensive growth in the brain. These tests were only conducted due to the severe deterioration of my sight in both eyes.

A full body CT scan and neck biopsy followed - I was diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (EGFR positive) on the 1st of November 2022. The cancer has unfortunately spread to my brain, behind the eyes, bones, back, ribs and possibly a lesion in the liver.

My whole world came crashing down, I couldn’t even process the birth of my newborn and deal with postpartum. This has not only changed my life but my whole family’s world has also turned upside down and come to a standstill. It came as a massive shock for us all. Lung cancer is generally associated with smokers however I am a non-smoker.

I am undergoing treatment with the NHS under palliative care. I’ve had ten sessions of radiotherapy to the brain to reduce the tumours, to the eyes to improve vision, and one session on my back to relieve pain. I’ve also been prescribed osimertinib - an oral pill - the first line of treatment for my type of cancer. This is the most the NHS can offer. However, as it’s stage 4 and the cancer has spread, this treatment under the NHS will not cure it but only aim to manage it. I do not know how much time I have left. As a mother, I am determined to fight for my two babies.

My family and I have desperately been searching for the best medical treatment. More specifically, we are looking into a specialist in Japan. Japan is one of the leading countries specialising in immunotherapies for cancer patients. With their advanced technology, they can provide a series of treatments, including dendritic cell therapy and NK cell therapy. Both these treatments retrain your immune system to attack and fight all the cancer cells in your body.

This treatment could save my life, but it is unavailable on the NHS.

We hope to raise £70,000 to cover the treatment expenses in Japan, including the various scans, tests, and therapies. With your aid in this fundraiser, I hope to be able to have the treatment I so desperately need over the next few months so I can have a chance to live and raise my two boys. I will be leaving my 8-week-old behind, and I am willing to bear that temporary separation from my baby boy if it means I can be there for him every day for the rest of his life.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my story. I want to be able to see my two boys grow up. Please share with friends and family as much as you can to raise awareness, help me improve my prognosis, and give me a fighting chance to live.

"And whoever saves one soul, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” (Surah Al-Ma’idah 5.32).