Can you help me raise funds for life-saving cancer treatment?

I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in June 2011 and had my right eye removed within a few weeks. That was some shock, because who knew eye cancer was thing?! I was classed a ‘high risk’ for it spreading, and for 10 years, thankfully I was ok!

Sadly, in November 2022, my worst fear was confirmed that the cancer had spread to my liver and lungs. I’ve since had two ablation procedures to remove the cancer, but in January 2024, further lesions were found in my liver. I have been on immunotherapy treatment since March 2024 and recent scans have unfortunately confirmed the treatment is not helping enough. The cancer is still growing.

Since there are currently no other immunotherapy drugs available to me, my oncologist, who is incredibly experienced, has suggested a treatment called Chemosaturation – a life-saving treatment that is currently unavailable on the NHS. This means my only option to get this treatment is to ask you – my kind and generous friends, family and even strangers – for help in raising money to pay for it.

Chemosaturation has had NICE recommendation since April 2021, but because it is classed as a ‘medical device’ and not a ‘treatment/drug’, it must go through a much lengthier approval process before it can be made available for NHS treatment. The reality is, this may take another 12-18 months – and I might have that long before the cancer wins.

Chemosat is available privately at a cost of £40,000 per treatment cycle. I need a minimum of three treatments, at a total cost of £120,000. I do not have enough savings, nor any means of accessing private healthcare or pension funds to cover this cost. There is simply no way I can fund this treatment without your help.

Ocular melanoma is a rare and aggressive cancer.

Roughly 700 people are diagnosed with ocular melanoma (OM) per year in the UK. In the US, where I’m originally from, it is circa 1,700 people per year. The risk of metastasis for OM patients is around 50% within 10 years. When it does metastasise, it spreads to the liver in 95% of cases. Liver cancer from OM is incurable, and there are limited treatment options for people like me.

Since I had my eye removed with the primary tumour, I was effectively cancer free for 10 years. The threat of knowing things could change in an instant was ever-present in my life. I had scans twice a year, and with each clear scan as the years passed, I considered myself lucky. But in the blink of one scan result when they found a lesion in my liver, I went from being cancer free to stage IV and palliative.

The cancer has shaped some of my biggest life choices, like not having children. My mother passed away when I was 7 years old, and that made me think deeply about leaving my own child without a mother. My husband and I had been on the fence about having kids around the time of my primary diagnosis. I was 35 and there was still time. But because the risk of metastatic disease was so high for me, I decided against it. I couldn’t bear the thought of having a child and then getting metastatic disease and leaving my husband and child alone. The thought consumed me, so we just never tried.

Instead, we got a fur-baby. She has lived a most wonderful 16 years so far with us our ‘(fur)child substitute’.

And sure enough, just as I hit the 10-year mark, I got the call I’d been dreading. I genuinely thought I was out of the woods, and was totally crest-fallen. People talk about having a proverbial rug pulled out from under you. I suddenly knew what that felt like.

I’ve been fortunate to survive three years so far with liver disease with interventional treatment (the ablations and the ongoing immunotherapy). I can continue having the immunotherapy treatment, but the outlook will not suddenly improve at my next scan. If anything, it is likely to show further progression.

My time is running out.

I am turning 49 this year. Chemosaturation may be the only treatment that helps me see 50 and beyond. Please help where you can. No amount is too small, and every penny is much appreciated*.

About Chemosaturation

Chemosaturation, also called melphalan percutaneous hepatic perfusion (M-PHP) is a revolutionary treatment that has shown success in almost 90% of patients by either providing tumour stability or significantly reducing their tumour load (i.e., how many tumours they have).

In 2021, NICE approved Chemosaturation as a safe and effective treatment for improving overall survival.

Worldwide data obtained by clinical trials has shown that it has a high response rate and improves the control of metastatic ocular melanoma.

Ocular Melanoma UK have been campaigning for this treatment to becoming available for years, because it’s unfair that it hasn’t yet been made available on the NHS since 2020, when the clinical trial for Chemosatuation fully recruited and closed. The data from the trial has published, and the results are so strong, that people like me should just be able to receive treatment on the NHS.

Chemosaturation can help maintain quality of life as symptoms are typically much more easily managed than other cancer treatments.

Post Chemosaturation, patients can live symptom-free and experience a prolonged life that may not be possible without this treatment.

Read more about Chemosaturation here.

--

(*) A note about your donation:

In the event NHS funding is made available quicker than anticipated, your donations will be put to good use in other ways. Some funds will be used to create lasting memories for my husband (e.g. a 'once in an end-of-lifetime' trip to New Zealand). I also will ensure funds are donated to cancer research, with the majority portion going to Ocular Melanoma UK, the only UK organisation dedicated to helping those with this disease.