So the story from the beginning! Ann was diagnosed with cancer in August 2007, when she was 14 weeks pregnant. She had chemo when she was 5 months pregnant, with doctors unsure of how it would affect her newborn baby. There were fears he would be extremely premature, with breathing problems and other unknown problems. Baby Ben was born naturally in February 2008 on his due date and was perfect! Ann started 4 1/2 weeks of radiotherapy when Ben was 12 days old and a few weeks later received the good news that she was free from cancer.

Sadly, in March 2010, her cancer returned in her chest cavity and she was given the news that the cancer was no longer curable but could be managed with treatment. She was told to "put her finances in order". She started her second go at chemo, had more radio and the cancer was treated. In March 2012, her husband left the family and just 4 months later the cancer returned. In September, she had a mastectomy and things were then looking up. However, in March 2013 (yes, March is a bad month for her!), the cancer had spread yet again, this time into her clavicle , and although she had chemo again, this was the start of a continuous journey to fight off the cancer. It was increasing in its aggressiveness and she was told there would a shorter time in between re occurrences.

To cut a long story short, 2 lots of chemo and 4 bouts of of radiotherapy later, the cancer had invaded her chest and the nerves all around her clavicle, and had caused lymphodema in her right arm, a painful condition where the lymph nodes stop working properly and cause lymph fluid to build up in the arm. Then in summer of 2015, a tumour developed on her sternum. Chemo was unsuccessful and after being referred to Guys, Ann had pioneering surgery in March 2016, yep March again, to remove her sternum with the tumour on it, and parts of her ribs. After huge complications, with the area getting deeply infected and 2 further operations to rectify things with a partial sternum reconstruction , she was discharged after nearly 6 weeks in hospital in London, and was ready to start chemo again to try to attack the ever growing tumours in her shoulder area. Incidentally, she was again told to "put her finances in order". She yet again decided to prove the doctors wrong! The chemo kept the cancer at bay till the beginning of 2017 when she was then referred to the Royal Marsden for a new trial. This bought another 7 months until the cancer got clever again! A new early phase trial started in February 2018 proved unsuccessful and so Ann has just begun her 8th and final round of chemo.

In 2013, she was medically retired from her career as a Premier Manager at Barclays. Ann owns her house but now struggles to have the funds to run it. Most of you who see Ann on a regular basis know that she doesn't stop running around after the children and as she says "they are my reason to fight on". The trouble is, her savings have now run out and she's unable to do the things she's desperate to do with the children, (Hannah is now 14, Emma is 11 and Ben is 10! Yep Ben 10! ) to make memories and ensure they get to have as much fun as a family as they can. And this is where you come in!

So why a fundraising push now?

On 9th April, Ann saw her Oncologist and was advised that there was only one Chemo left available for her. It was questioned if Ann wanted to go ahead with this or to make memories with her family without the nasty side effects of the chemo. Being the true fighter she is, Ann opted to give this last chemo every chance and still make the memories she and the children so desperately need. This, however, is not possible without the support from us, her family, friends, community and so here we are asking for donations to kick start our fundraising campaign. Ann has, over the years, tirelessly fundraised for Macmillan and Cancer Research UK and won the much acclaimed Ambassador of the Year Award for Cancer Research UK. Now its time to repay the favour!

Ann is determined to stay in her family home with her children for as long as possible and this will only be possible with alterations to the house and outside care. Money raised will be used for this as well. Also, importantly, drugs may become available that aren't funded by the NHS and we would want to be in a position to fund those drugs without delay.

We will also be holding many fundraising events on our Facebook page "All about Ann" to raise much needed funds. So let's get started!