**Update**

First of all we want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the generous donations and for the continued support for Claire and our family. We started to get the ball rolling with DCT Treatment and had 3 consultations with the team in Germany. However, there have been some setbacks and complications with the Immunotherapy and Chemotherapy which has delayed the DCT from going ahead. After the first Immunotherapy, Claire was in hospital for a couple of weeks with severe Colitis and two infections. Claire had 3-4 weeks off the treatment to get her body back on track and we were hoping that the second lot of treatment would go smoothly. Unfortunately this was not the case and the Immunotherapy caused dangerously high levels of Liver Toxicity which could have been fatal. After another week in hospital, Claire is finally home and now on a very high dose of steroids to get the liver toxins down and to stabilise the Colitis.

Due to the high dosage of steroids, the team at DCT have recommended we wait until Claire is off the steroids before starting any DCT Treatment as it is not as effective when on the high levels of steroids.

However, we wanted to update everyone with a bit of good news!! We have been able to start numerous other treatments with the money raised and these are going really well and helping Claire feel as good as she can in herself. These treatments have been found after copious amounts of research, discussions with the Oncologist Professor (who is also in UK trials for a few of these treatments and given the go ahead for us to run alongside the Chemo/immunotherapy), as well as in depth conversations with cancer patients that have gone from Stage 4 to cancer free... We wouldn't have been able to even consider half of these options if it wasn't for this page and the donations outside of this page, so once again thank you so much.

We have a very specific Protocol for Claire to follow which includes 20 different types of medications as well as supplements / elixirs / oxygenation / oils / specific foods from Brazil / cancer nutritionist / Chinese ointments / Reiki Healing / Volcanic acid Zeolite and many more.

Everything works in harmony alongside each other and is to be followed to a regime over the coming months alongside the Chemotherapy. Without this page we wouldn't be able to do this as the costs are between £2000-£2500 per month! We will need to keep Claire on a lot of these treatments long-term too. We are so glad that we are able to get Claire absolutely everything that we can to help fight this disease.

We have just skimmed the surface on all the treatments we are doing, but if anyone has had a diagnosis or knows of anyone that would benefit from a chat, please feel free to reach out to us - We want to help others too if we can!

We will be hosting various fundraising events/days and will confirm dates shortly for this. The amazing team at Plastribution are in the process of training for a full marathon and half a marathon to raise funds for Claire's treatment - thank you all as this means so much and we know you're all smashing the training!!! We will continue updating you all with fundraising events etc.

Thank you once again ❤️

The Ray family xxx

**** End of Update ****

Where do we start? Everyone that knows Claire, will know that she is a wonderful lady, full of life, joy and happiness. The life of the party, the glue of the family, the positive and caring soul that we are all so lucky to have in our lives. Always striving to do the best for her family and friends, and living life to the absolute full.

So it came as a shock, when we were told in a Hospital room, after a 4 week stay, that Claire has Cholangiocarcinoma - Bile Duct Cancer. How did we get here?

Early in March, Claire had persistent heartburn, loss of appetite and an uncontrollable itching. To start with, we didn't think too much of it 'Just take some Rennies' or 'Have you had an Antihistamine' but things started to worsen. It wasn't long before Claire was taken to the Emergency Walk In Centre, who instantly told her to get to A&E at Queens Hospital in Burton as Jaundice was noticeable in her eyes. Little did we know that this would be the start of 4 weeks in hospital for Claire. After a week of waiting for results from different scans, they had determined Claire's Bile Duct was obstructed, which was causing the Jaundice. It was decided that a stent needed to be placed in the Bile Duct to relieve this and to get a closer look on what had caused the blockage. The procedure went ahead but unfortunately wasn't successful at Burton, so it was agreed Claire would be transferred to Derby Hospital who have a specialised team for this specific procedure. At this point, Claire had been in Burton Hospital for two weeks and was no further forward.

Fast forward a week or so, Claire had the procedure at Royal Derby Hospital and thankfully it was successful. The Jaundice started to ease, and the blood poison was going down significantly. We hoped that would be everything needed to get Claire back home and on the road to recovery so we could put the previous few weeks behind us... Unfortunately, that was not the case! After a few more Biopsy's were taken, it was confirmed that Claire has Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer) which has spread to two parts of the Liver. The Doctors at Derby / Nuffield had told us that due to the cancer spreading, this means that surgery is not an option, only chemo therapy but unfortunately this is not a cure. However, we managed to get a 2nd opinion from a World Leading Specialist of Bile Duct cancer. Whilst he also confirmed surgery is not an option right now, he did confirm that if we can Inactivate the cancer, then surgery may be an option for Claire!

There are a few ways that cancerous cells can be targeted and inactivated. This can be done through Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy and a relatively new but successful treatment called Dendritic Cell Therapy. In the UK, the only options we have are Immunotherapy & Chemotherapy which Claire will be starting. The other treatment, DCT is still in the process of being approved in the UK. Although in Germany and various other European countries, DCT Therapy has been approved and is available for cancer patients as it has a higher chance of inactivating the cancer cells, without causing damage to the healthy cells which are needed for the surgery to go ahead. The specialist did recommend the DCT but unfortunately as it is not in the UK, he cannot refer us to this and private medical insurance does not cover this. So as much as he recommends this, it needs to be funded by ourselves. He did say this would speed up the chances of the surgery, so of course any treatment that we can do to help get this surgery is worth trying.

For this level of DCT treatment, we’re looking at a hefty cost of £45K *deep breath*.

This is exactly why this page has been made! We are DETERMINED to not let this awful cancer defeat Claire, we will fight it every step of the way and now that we know surgery could be an option, we will fight to get her there. We will not let funds get in the way of fighting this, we will do anything to get her to a point of surgery and then get her fit and healthy again, ready to enjoy the rest of her life - no matter the cost. But of course, every little bit helps us get further and helps us get Claire the treatment that could save her life.

If you are able to donate, even a small amount, it would mean the absolute world to us. One step closer to getting Claire the help she needs and deserves. Thank you so much for all the support and love we have received already too.

Lots of Love,

Claire, Dave, Nicole, Tash, Oliver and all the Family xxx