We would like to raise money for my niece, Kierandeep Sandhu, who is battling stage 4 lung cancer. Kierandeep was just like any other girl in her 20s - hardworking, outgoing and loves to spend time with friends and family.

Coventry woman, 23, diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer which doctors thought was TB

It all started one day when she was at work and noticed she couldn't talk whilst walking. She then noticed climbing the stairs was draining and tiring. She made an appointment at her local GP with pains around her abdomen and breathlessness. The doctor told her she had a viral bug and that she needs to rest and drink plenty of water. Kierandeep went home and rested for 5 days, but she just got worse and worse. At the end of that week she felt like she was having panic attacks just climbing the stairs and so went to A&E. After the A&E doctor felt around her abdomen, he told her she is still suffering from her virus and that her stomach pains are probably some indigestion. She was prescribed gaviscon and told to stay home and carry on resting. She did just that, but 3 days later and she couldn't walk around anymore and found daily tasks too hard to do herself. She went back to the local GP on the Monday morning and pleaded with the doctor to get her a scan at the hospital. He eventually referred her for a scan, and so she went straight to the hospital.

At the hospital she had a chest scan, twice. The radiographer explained to Kierandeep that she will need a doctor to look at these scans straight away with what she was seeing. She then walked Kierandeep down to A&E and was made to wait for a few hours before finding out the results of the scan. Eventually a doctor asked Kierandeep to come and have a look at her scan on the computer. At first Kierandeep didn't really know what she was looking at, but with an explanation from the doctor she understood that her right lung was drowning in body fluid. This meant she had been living with only one lung (the doctor had guessed that it had been like this for the last three weeks) and he firmly believed that it was age on her side. He was astonished she was still walking and moving around!

Kierandeep was admitted into hospital, onto the respiratory ward at UHCW in Coventry. She had a number of scans to understand to investigate what may be going on. It took some time but eventually a doctor came to speak to Kierandeep and explained to her they need to insert a catheter into her chest so they can drain the fluid off her right lung. This in turn will relive the pain she was experiencing and help her breathing. However she had to have this catheter put in whilst she was awake and the area would just be numbed. This was the first real procedure Kierandeep had, and one of the scariest to say the least. The doctor explained there wasn't any free rooms to do the procedure where he would like to, but it needs to be done as soon as possible. Eventually he managed to find a small stock room which had a bed in there. The doctor got Kierandeep to sit up with her arm raised up so he could access the side of her chest. He first numbed the area and then went to proceed to put a catheter into the space next to the right lung. This whole time a nurse was there to keep Kierandeep distracted from this horrible procedure. Kierandeep would now be walking around with a drainage bottle where the fluid was draining into for the next few days. This was not easy, and was the start of a new journey for Kierandeep. This is where she started needing help to do certain things and certainly not what she thought would happen being only 23. As the fluid was draining, this was reliving the pain and breathlessness for Kierandeep but it was making her very, very tired. She was on lots of medication for pain such as codeine, co codamol and morphine.

As this was all going on, the nurses explained to Kierandeep that they suspect she had tuberculosis. This is a contagious condition and meant that Kierandeep had to constantly wear a mask. Anybody that visited her in her hospital room had to wear a mask and be protected, including nurses and doctors. This meant that her visitors were not able to comfort her properly whilst she was going through this hard time. In total 4 litres of fluid was drained and Kierandeep had another scan to show that the fluid had been removed and nothing was left. She was told she will be discharged from hospital on tuberculosis medication but before that happened she would need to have a bronchoscopy. This is a camera that is fed up the nose and into the chest. This allowed a sample to be taken from her chest, and tested to see what Kierandeep may have. Bronchoscopy results take weeks to come back so Kierandeep was discharged with medication. A community nurse would also visit Kierandeep to make sure she was getting on ok with the medication and everything was going as planned.

Unfortunately three weeks later and Kierandeep was experiencing the same symptoms again - breathlessness and pains around her lower chest/abdomen. Kierandeep's community nurse told her to go to straight to A&E. It was unfortunate for Kierandeep that she received the same news, her right lung had fluid on it again. The doctors were shocked and didn't think it was TB with the symptoms she was displaying. As they started to investigate, Kierandeep's bronchoscopy results came through. A nurse explained to Kierandeep that it would be best if she called her family in to receive the results. Kierandeep knew by the way they asked her family to come in, it wasn't good news and it wasn't - she was told that they had found cancerous cells in her right lung. She knew this might be the case because she had already started to google her symptoms as she was in hospital a second time. Kierandeep was speechless, didn't know what to say and was distraught at hearing that at such a young age. The doctor explained they don't know what type of cancer, and a biopsy would need to be done to understand exactly what she has. They also explained that she would need a permanent catheter put into her chest since they think the fluid will keep building back up once drained.

Kierandeep was booked in for surgery for the catheter and a biopsy. She was told she would have to fast all day and to wait to be called into theatre. It was 5pm and she still had not been called in. Kierandeep was already restless and low on energy, she needed food and water. The surgeon suddenly came into the room and explained to Kierandeep that theatre was now closed and she would have to go in first thing in the morning. This is when Kierandeep broke down and felt she wasn't prioritised or even communicated to properly. They could have told her a lot earlier, but they waited right up until the end of the day and she was fasting. Somebody brought some food up for her and she tried to eat as bed she could.

A doctor then came in and told her that she still needs to have a catheter to put in before the morning to relive the pain she is in. This would be done at her bedside and because Kierandeep had been through it before, she knew what to expect. Unfortunately because her previous wound was still healing, they had trouble getting an incision to put the tube into. The anaesthetic that was used hadn't kicked in and Kierandeep could feel every bit of the procedure. The doctor explained he had to carry on and do the procedure as quick as possible so Kierandeep had to deal with the pain. On top of all of this, the doctor had to make the incision bigger (1cm) and so had to literally cut her open there and then. This is when Kierandeep was screaming in agony but luckily they had got the tube into her chest. They secured the catheter as much as they could and stitched and patched up the incision. When Kierandeep looked down at her bed, she was drenched in blood. The nurse then helped to change all her clothing and bed sheets. This was one of the worst nights for Kierandeep, she was in enormous amounts of pain from the procedure but every time she would cough blood would seep out through the stitching and patches. This meant it wasn't long before her clothes and bedding was covered in blood again. Fortunately for Kierandeep, she was in theatre first thing the next morning and a permanent catheter replaced it.

When Kierandeep first came out of surgery, she was in ICU for 3 days. She was so dazed after the surgery, they wanted to make sure she was ok but she did really well. Eventually when she woke up, life was very different for her and she immediately felt change. She wasn't in high spirits, she was down about the surgery she just had and was now living with a new tube in the side of her chest. Eventually she was strong enough to start getting back on her feet and was discharged home. She was told she would get a call when her biopsy results were ready.

Three dreaded weeks later and she was called into the hospital with her family. A doctor sat her in a room and told her she was stage 4 lung cancer which isn't curable but it is treatable. Kierandeep knew what this meant because she had been doing her research and it was the worst possible news she was hoping to receive. Kierandeep just broke down straight away and didn't know what to say being in her 20s. Her macmillan nurse pulled her into a separate room and explained to her all the information regarding her new illness. She explained that she'll be supporting Kierandeep for anything she needs and to ask her anything. The first question Kierandeep asked her was "am I going to die from this?" The nurse responded welling up, "you will live a shorter life than most people". This was the new normal for Kierandeep, and where it all began. Kierandeep met her consultant a week later and she was started on a targeted therapy for her type of cancer. Kierandeep made changes to her lifestyle and diet to help with her condition. She couldn't live as any normal 23 year old girl and this diagnosis affected every part of her life.

Three and a half years on and Kierandeep is doing really well. Her cancer has stayed stable most of the time and is still on targeted therapy medication. She still has to deal with many daily symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and pain. Kierandeep never thought she would be dealing with an illness in her 20s and never thought she would have to have help a this age, let alone cancer. This has not only had an impact physically, but also mentally. She doesn't really have a prognosis and constantly thinks about her future. Mentally it takes a toll on her and she has thoughts about not knowing how long she'll live for, if her treatment will have an affect on her fertility or whether she'd be able to have children.

It's important for Kierandeep to raise awareness about her cancer journey and she doesn't want this to happen to others. Kierandeep wants people to listen to their bodies and to please get help if they feel something isn't right. We would like to help her with extra costs she faces and to help her live an easier and normal life as possible.

Any contribution would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks

Parmjit x