Support Alex Jamieson's terminal cancer fight

#allforalex #rebellioushope Summary: This Go Fund Me is to support my wife, Alex Jamieson (aged 39) and our daughters Annabel (7 years) and Imogen (5 years). Alex is currently fighting a diagnosis of advanced bowel cancer that has now returned three times. Although a cure is not at this stage completely written off, doctors have advised Alex that a cure would be “unrealistic”, and that she has 14 to 16 months to live. We are not giving up however, and will fight whilst there is still a hope (however slim) for Alex to be cured. And if that isn’t possible, we will keep fighting to increase the amount of time Alex has left to spend with the girls. We believe there are privately-funded treatments available that could help us to do this. We would be grateful for any support you can give us in our fight. Alex’s Story: I (Paul, 41 years old) met Alex in March 2011, and we started dating. I live in Stockport, and Alex was living in Doncaster. As I’m deaf, we couldn’t speak on the phone, so it was a long-distance relationship carried out over text messages and weekend meet-ups. Alex eventually moved across to Stockport in July 2012, and we were married in December 2013. In April 2015, we became parents when Annabel was born. The sleepless nights didn’t put us off, and in September 2017, Imogen joined us and completed our family. In September 2019, Alex achieved her career aim by becoming a primary school Headteacher in Stockport. I always knew she was destined to be a Primary School Headteacher ever since I met her, and I was absolutely delighted for her. Since May 2018, Alex had been suffering with pain and discomfort in her abdomen and after being shuttled around the healthcare system, she was finally given an ‘active’ diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease, even though her consultant wasn’t sure what it really was. Things came to a head in June 2021 when she developed serious pain and was suddenly taken into hospital by ambulance. She received an emergency operation to remove part of her bowel the day after. Two weeks after that, I was asked to go to the hospital for a joint meeting, and we received the devastating news that doctors had discovered colorectal cancer during the operation. Alex was just 37. She was told that, although the tumour was advanced, the surgery had removed the cancer and that having chemotherapy for the following six months would ensure no cancer was left. However, five months into chemotherapy, a scan showed that the cancer had returned and spread to nearby organs and tissue, and it was agreed that further surgery was the best option. In March ’22, Alex underwent a second major operation which was successful and all visible cancer was gone. The prognosis at this point was positive and she was told to enjoy life, but that careful surveillance would now happen every six months. Over the next six months, our family happily returned to normal life. The knowledge of what we could have lost meant that we tried hard not to take things for granted. Alex went back to work, was able to support the girls with school and learning again, and we made more time for family days out. In August 2022, we went to Mexico on a ‘trip of a lifetime’, which was incredible and the best two weeks of our life. In November 2022, six months later, following the first surveillance scan, Alex was told that the cancer had come back again and was in four places within her pelvis. The most difficult part of this latest diagnosis is that the medical team now believe this is not curable and that, with chemotherapy, she will live for just another 14 to 16 months. Our Fight: Although Alex accepts this diagnosis, she is determined not to give up hope, described by Dame Deborah James as “Rebellious Hope”. We believe that there remain some treatment options out there that could potentially change the current outlook of ‘palliative’ to ‘curative’. If there is even a tiny bit of hope then Alex is determined to fight for it. After all, you can never regret trying. I am incredibly proud of her. At this moment in time, we are unsure what this fight looks like. The NHS is able to offer Alex three months of chemotherapy with the intention of re-scanning at the end. However, we believe there are other opportunities which, combined with the chemotherapy, may give Alex a better chance of survival. For example, there is a type of targeted therapy called Avastin, which is privately available at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, and which has achieved good results. There may be other privately-available targeted treatments out there too that would be even better for Alex. We know there are a number of clinical trials taking place in the UK now that could perhaps help. And there may also be treatments available in other countries. Right now, our plan is to get Alex started on the NHS chemotherapy as well as Avastin, whilst we explore these options. Whatever the final plan after discussion with medical professionals, we believe that these treatments could potentially be a possible pathway to surgical treatment and therefore curing the cancer. However, we do know these treatments require money. For example, Avastin is approximately £2,000 each dose. This Go Fund Me is therefore aiming to remove any financial barriers to this pathway. Even if these treatments don’t make a cure possible for Alex, there is evidence that they can extend the life of cancer patients. This could give Alex more time, to spend with myself and our children Annabel (7) and Imogen (5). Any extra time would be the absolute blessing that she is desperate for. What will the Go Fund Me donations be used for? In all honesty, Alex and I were unsure about setting up a Go Fund Me, as it doesn’t feel natural to us to ask people for money. However, the support we have received from our friends and family at this time has been absolutely incredible, and we are so grateful for this. A number of people have encouraged us to set something up so that they can contribute financially. In setting this Go Fund Me up, we wanted to give people a sense of what any money raised will be used for. The priority would be to use any generous donations to support Alex’s access to medical treatment, whether that be Avastin or other targeted therapies or treatment available either in the UK or other countries. At this moment in time, we are not sure how much money is needed for this, so have set the Gofundme target to £12,000, which is the rough cost of a three-month schedule of Avastin. Although they are so young and it has been incredibly hard for them, Annabel and Imogen have been so resilient throughout Alex’s journey with cancer. Alex and I are extremely proud of them. Should the medical treatment not make a cure possible for Alex, we would then like to use some of the donations to create amazing family memories for the girls with the time that Alex has left. Finally, if there are any unspent donations, we would like to use this to support other families in similar situations. In the interests of transparency, we will provide regular updates on Alex’s story as well as a breakdown of what the funding has been spent on. Many thanks for all your support, Paul, Alex, Annabel and Imogen Jamieson