Shonas cancer journey

This month, June 2022, Shona-Louise was diagnosed with a Stage 4 Terminal Stomach Cancer. At the age of 33 and having 3 young children and a new husband, this has come as the most unexpected news. Shonas friends and family are devastated to hear this.

We as a group ‘Shona’s Angels’ are taking part in a charity run for cancer research to raise awareness for stomach and gastric cancer.

But since sharing this we have received so many messages asking how people can directly support and help Shonas family, hence the go fund me page.


Shona’s Story; 

Shonas symptoms first started mid to late last year (2021). She was experiencing IBS like symptoms at first, which is why it is very easy to be misdiagnosed by GP’s. At first Shona experienced pain in her stomach after eating, sickness after eating and a general loss of appetite. These symptoms grew stronger over the following months, while dealing with her own grandmother, Nancy’s cancer journey, who she sadly lost in December, as well as her mums Lung Cancer diagnosis, which was given only days before they lost Nancy. After the loss of her grandmother, and the start of her own mum’s chemo journey, her family urged her again visit the GP, where she learned she was severely anaemic, after an emergency blood transfusions the GP finally referred Shona to the hospital to have a camera down her throat less than 3 weeks before her wedding, where we learned Shona had a Hernia in her oesophagus later followed by a CT scan to ensure this was all. 

Since March we have believed that Shona’s on and off bloated stomach, sickness, stomach pains, extreme weight loss & fatigue was due to low iron, IBS & the hernia. 

After a long time suffering, the pains and sickness became too much one night on the evening of May 21st, after hosting a lovely BBQ with friends and family, that evening after trying to eat some food herself, she became very very sick, and was in the most pain she’d experienced, leading her husband to call an ambulance in the early hours of May 22nd.

This is where Shona then stayed for 10 days without seeing her 3 beautiful children, on arrival in A&E they identified fluid in the stomach and assumed there may be a blockage somewhere. So Shona was wired up and had to have her stomach drained which is not nice at all, as this is done with a wire up your nose down to your stomach, and for Shona was unsuccessful. Undergoing blood tests every 4 hours every day, which did not indicate cancer in her markers. Whilst in hospital Shonas symptoms did not get better. Her appetite was non existent and her pain could not be managed with anything other than a morphine drip and many other pain killers. One day in hospital Shona had also vomited a substantial amount of blood. This is which eventually leads them to take Shona for another CT scan to ensure she was not internally bleeding. Which she isn’t!

2 more CT Scans, and an ultrasound, they finally drained the fluid via a needle under the guidance of an ultrasound and did this twice to be able to send off the fluid for testing.

On day 10, Wednesday 1st June at around 7pm, we were told Shona had stomach cancer. At this point we didn’t know anything we just had to wait for more tests and more appointments.

This evening Shona was allowed home to see her children for a few hours, as long as she returned within a few hours for her next drip.

Shona returned and stayed here for another week, trying to manage her pain and nausea until she was finally discharged on 8th June and sent home with a bag full of meds and told to wait on a letter from the cancer department. 

After only 3 days Shona was back in an ambulance in agony on the way to hospital in the early hours of 12th June. 

It seemed that Shona could not handle taking her meds orally and as she was struggling to take them the nausea had returned, which meant the ones she could get down didn’t stay down for long.

On Monday 13th June, Shona was seen by a Dr who felt that she needed to be given more information and more support, which lead him to bring round an Onocology doctor who told Shona the news that due to the fluid build up (which you can find more information about on the NHS website) the cancer was terminal. 

The following day Shona was told, operating was no longer an option and that her cancer advanced and stage 4, however due to her age and having a family if she was prepared for chemo that they wanted to try it for her to give her as many additional months and hopefully years as possible!

Shona is a caring, loving mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend to many. As you can imagine in the current financial circumstances, life insurance hasn’t been a financial priority at her young age, the young couple recently got married, they have 3 children; an 8 year daughter, a 5 nearly 6 year old son with autism, and a 3 year old daughter, who she wants to make the most amazing memories with while she can. 


This is why we are setting up this fundraising page to help Shona and her young family with anything they need. We want Shona to have the opportunity do everything she deserves! 

This includes crossing everything off her bucket list which has many things like going to visit family in Eastbourne and Barbados, taking her oldest daughter Kelsey on girls day trips and many more, while also supporting the family through any treatments that come up that Shona should have the opportunity to try and any help her family may need through this financially difficult time.

Any money raised will go to Shona and her family directly, and we want to say thank you in advance for all donations.

The information that is currently available about Stomach and gastric cancer  can be misleading of how serious and common this type of cancer can be. Typically stomach and gastric cancer is said to be common in the elderly and men. However, we know that this is not always the case. To see some general symptoms please see https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-cancer/

Please everyone check out Shonas Stones on Facebook . 

This page has been made to help create awareness of the symptoms of Stomach and Gastric cancer. This is very important to Shona herself as she wants to do what she can to prevent you there from going through this.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1014995049193887/?ref=share