UPDATE:

Just back from my third treatment in Germany. Professor Vogl has said that there is 10-15% less activity in my main tumour - great news! Each treatment is costing over £4,500 and so my funds are getting low.. I need your help to get the ball rolling, please donate or help me to come up with some new fundraising ideas so we can keep the progress going! Thank you to everyone who has helped me so far! Love Sandra x

A Message from Clive

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit this website, on behalf of my sister Sandra.

All of her adult life, Sandra seems to have struggled. After her divorce she managed to bring up her two young children on her own, balancing the usual demands of work and family as a single parent. At a point when she appeared to be getting on top of things, nearly four years ago, we sadly lost our Father, and then a year later, she was diagnosed with a complicated and rare form of Ovarian Cancer. I cannot begin to imagine how this must feel, every day, to live with such a diagnosis.

She is certainly a fighter and refuses to give up, trying her utmost to stave off the disease with an array of natural and alternative therapies. We now have the possibility of treatment that will offer a cure, but need your donations to help fund the treatment.

Here is     Sandra's Story:

I am 49 years old, and until I reached 45, I never questioned that I wouldn’t see my old age. Unfortunately, I fear that might not be the case, as I have been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. I am a Mother of 2 children; Emily, 20, who is a very talented artist and Ruben, 11, who has a terrific sense of humour. I just want to do all the normal things with my children as they grow up. When I found out about my cancer, we moved in with my Mother and left behind our family home.

How it started

For someone who had been reasonably fit, it came as a shock, when I woke up one night feeling decidedly ill. I was covered in sweat, nauseous, yellow, heart pounding and blood shot eyes. I called an ambulance, but the paramedics were unable to find the cause of my symptoms, so they thought it would be best to get me checked out at Torbay hospital. Once in hospital, following blood tests, they could find nothing wrong with me and told me to go and see my GP.  A few days later, it happened again, I went back to hospital and still they could find nothing wrong with me or my blood. I proceeded to visit every GP in my practice, as I felt so unwell and every time they drew a blank.

On one visit I collapsed in the Doctors surgery and was taken to hospital. Once more, I was told there was nothing wrong with my blood results.  They took me to the ward and said that they were getting me to see a Psychiatric Doctor, who pronounced me depressed, with a Health Anxiety disorder. Neither of which were true. Weeks of Questionnaires followed, as they put me through the Mental Health Dept. My symptoms persisted and I knew I wasn’t imagining this.

When I noticed blood in the toilet, my GP sent me for a colonoscopy. After the procedure, they scared the life out of me, telling me that it could be Colon Cancer. They were able to feel a lump and wanted me to come back for a CT scan and a biopsy to see what was going on. At 11 o’clock on 11/11/11, I had a biopsy taken. I hoped it would be a good omen.. but the solid white mass I could see on the screen , where they were taking the biopsy from, was screaming otherwise.

Diagnosis

On the 14^th November 2011, I was at work and it will be a day I shall never forget, the day my whole world fell apart. My boss told me there was a call for me. It was the hospital and they had the results of my biopsy. I have never got to the hospital so quickly. Thankfully, my Mum was waiting there for me. The Gynaecologist broke the news, my Colon was clear, BUT….they had found Cancerous tumours all over my abdominal wall ,which had originated from my ovary. They told me they were going to pull out all the stops, as I was so young (I was only 45).

My situation was complicated, as my tumours were calcified, but the good news was that they were slow growing. However, this later proved to be a disadvantage when it came to chemo, as chemo attacks fast multiplying cells, not slow ones. ( 18 months later I was rather shocked, to be told that the chemo would only have had 4-8% chance of working !). Chemo was the worst experience of my life. I was an utter zombie, where even lying down was too much trouble.  Goodness knows how we would have coped, if my Mum hadn’t taken me and my two children into her home and cared for us all and has continued to do so for the last three years. She is now 83 and although marvelous for her age, I worry daily that this burden is too much for her. 

Sadly, despite having had the chemotherapy it wasn’t long before my blood marker returned to where it started and then went higher. I asked to be referred to the Marsden in London, as I’d heard they were the best. They said it would be far too dangerous to operate on me, because of the location of the main tumour and the smaller tumours were too numerous and with the calcification, this meant they would be too hard to remove.

With no further treatment available from the NHS, I was left on my own to pursue as many alternative approaches as I could. I have tried to limit the progression of the disease with an incredibly strict diet; no sugar, meat, and most dairy, apart from a yoghurt that I make myself, that contains GcMAF, which is specifically used to treat cancer. For two months, I did The Gerson Protocol, which involved making 10 vegetable juices and having three coffee enemas a day! I take enough supplements to sink a battle ship and I have worked hard to try to keep my body as healthy as possible. Patricia Peat of Cancer Options was particularly good at putting me on the right path in this respect and I will be eternally grateful for her guidance.

Hope of A Cure

It is now nearly three years on, from when I was diagnosed. Recently, I attended a Cancer Conference in Exeter. There were several people there, saying what wonderful results a Professor in Frankfurt, Germany, was achieving for Cancer Patients, with a pioneering form of treatment. The treatment involves delivering a dose of chemotherapy via the arteries, injected directly into the tumour. It is then sealed to keep the chemo within the tumour. By delivering it directly, it is not diluted by the blood, as it is with regular chemo.

I was particularly impressed by one Cancer patient, Gordon Ross, who told his story of how he had been cured of terminal throat cancer, by Professor Vogl’s treatment, having exhausted the NHS options. It turned out that Gordon was a local man and I have been able to contact him and learn more about his experience in Germany. When I heard about this alternative treatment, I sent copies of my scans to Professor Vogl, for him to assess if treatment was possible.

Professor Vogl’s response that he can treat me, has obviously made everybody elated. Both myself and my whole family are thrilled at  the possibility of my recovery, and being able to move back home. It has given us hope and light, from what has been a very dark tunnel, these last few years.

As a Mother of two children I want to be there to help and guide them through all of life’s challenges and obstacles  and hopefully see my grandchildren born and grow up too. The prospect of getting better, being able to move back home with my children, and getting back to ‘normal life’ really spurs me on to not only stabilise the cancer, but  blitz it to smithereens!!! The treatment that I can receive in Germany is up to 100 times more powerful, than systemic chemo that I received in this country.

Due to this revolutionary treatment and superior scanning equipment in Germany, compared to the UK, I’ve been told that it can shrink the tumours more than the regular chemo can do , potentially  curing me from my cancer. This treatment in Frankfurt is definitely not available anywhere in the UK (or elsewhere in Germany) nor is it funded by the NHS. I am unable to work and the cost of this treatment is way beyond my means. To be cured and able to work again to provide for myself and children, as I used to, would be incredible.

As of yet, I am not sure how many treatments I am going to need in Germany and will not find this information out until my first visit, but I do know the minimum would be between 3 and 4 visits, each costing up to £5,000 a time. However, most cancer patients, that I have spoken to, who have received treatment from Professor Vogl, seem to have had about 8 treatments, hence the £40,000 target. This kind of money is way beyond my resources and I believe Germany is my only chance of survival. If you are able to help me via a donation to this charity website, or organise a fundraising event, I would be so very grateful to you, any donation will make a difference. Even  if you do not feel able to donate yourself, I would really appreciate it, if you could share this link (www.justgiving.com/Sandra-Cancer-Treatment) to this story, with as many people as you can. The more people that know, hopefully, the nearer I can get to my goal of being cured of this Cancer...

Thank you so much for taking the time for visiting Clive's Just Giving page and for reading my story.

Making a donation

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The page you are reading will transfer any contributions to Yes To Life linked to myself helping me to claim the cost of treatment and flights to and from Germany.

Yes To Life have vetted me and will only release monies upon me providing them with receipts for strictly limited bounds of permitted expenditure types.

If you are able to contribute to my fund please advise just giving as you proceed if you are a tax payer so that yes to life and I will benefit from gift aid. You should be able to claim tax relief on your contribution from HMRC via your annual tax return.

Any contributions made will be greatly appreciated and will help start my journey of survival.

 I urgently need your help now.

Thank you for your support,

Sandra xx