HI I'm Jo & since 2013, I've been battling triple negative breast cancer. My lovely husband Andrew & I have fought it together 3 times now, but as a Stage 4 patient, I live from scan to scan, knowing it is a case of not if it returns, but when...Triple negative cancer has none of the receptors the most successful treatments target and so the prognosis is dire compared with most early stage cancers.

First diagnosed in 2013, I underwent lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation and believed myself cured. But less than 18 months later, the cancer returned with a vengeance-a 6cm tumour growing into my chest wall. I went through chemo again to no avail, & struggled to come to terms with the news that this time a mastectomy was needed. In the end I decided to remain positive, telling myself "You can do this! You are more than your boobs!" Told the mastectomy had been a success, we couldn't believe we had beaten the disease a second time.

However, at my post op scan just 6 weeks later, we learned the diseas had already spread to my lung and that I was stage 4 (meaning the cancer wad no longer curable). My medical team advised us to plan a funeral and palliative care at our local hospice. Instead, I chose to plan a wedding and married Andrew in just 2 days! I spent hours scouring the Internet and discovered that if I could find a lung surgeon to operate, I might stand a chance. In May 2017, I underwent surgery for the 3rd time.

Due to the nature of triple negative cancer I remain at high risk of reoccurence and face the prospect of spreads to my bones, other major organs and more worryingly my brain. Andrew & I are very aware of this dark cloud on our horizon, but choose instead to count the rainbows :-) Gamma Knife laser treatment would be our only hope. However, Gamma Knife for breast cancer is not currently funded by the NHS, despite £9 million being spent on the equipment and 11 hospitals offering the treatment.

If you are able to make a donation, no matter how small, we would be eternally grateful. Together we are stronger than cancer. Thank you!