***We hit our initial target but every penny donated goes a long way to opening treatment options that are not available on the NHS... Thank you for your generosity.***

Below is a summary written by Steph's husband, Andy. I have started this fund because I am friends with the Ford’s, and I have watched this illness have an overwhelming impact on the family. There are treatment options available for Steph and we will do everything we can to access them

Steph’s story

At age 33, Steph gave birth to our youngest daughter Eliza in May 2014. This completed our family with her older sister Charlotte. Since the birth of Eliza, through to September 2015, Steph felt there was something different in her abdomen, and was continually back & forward to her GP. We were told it was just post-natal changes to her body and likely down to dietary allergies and IBS. We took the advice of our doctors despite Steph’s condition worsening, not for one minute thinking she was in the infancy of a cancer diagnosis. During this time, she had numerous tests for a gynaecological diagnosis and two faecal tests displaying abnormal ranges indicating cancer, still our GP was putting this down to IBS symptoms, or allergies, and wanted further tests. Although pain and fatigue are common symptoms of cancer, Steph was a young and otherwise fit & healthy person with a great diet who exercised regularly. Cancer was never mentioned and certainly wasn’t something we had considered at the start. During this time Steph returned from maternity to start a new job as a finance manager in a local hospice. She lived in pain daily, and we just could not figure out what the problem was. Steph demanded a referral to a specialist, eventually in December 2015 a colonoscopy revealed a large bowel tumour. This news devastated our family! Steph had surgery and the tumour was removed just after Christmas 2015, leaving Steph in hospital for the New Year. The Doctors have never disclosed the size of the tumour. The result was a cancerous stage 3b colon tumour, the latest stage before a stage iv diagnosis.

What followed has been almost continuous treatment for 6+ years. Steph had 12 cycles of preventative chemotherapy throughout 2016, finishing in July that year. She had her first recurrence in her liver in Autumn 2017. The subsequent operation left her with a “shark bite” scar from breastbone to naval and round her side. Steph recovered well, carried on working in a challenging environment and looking after our young children whilst I continued to work shifts as a Police Officer.

In October 2018 she had a further recurrence in her liver and lung cavity. Steph had 6 cycles of chemotherapy which shrunk the cancer allowing a redo liver resection, and lung surgery in March 2019. This was successful and Steph again set on regaining full health. Just 6 months later she received further devastating news that the cancer had returned in her lymph nodes and was now in her lung. She set about another 6 cycles of aggressive chemotherapy, again over the Christmas period, and received positive news in Spring 2020. The lung tumour was stable, and she now qualified for a procedure called ablation and was due to receive cutting edge laser surgery. By now Steph made the difficult decision to accept voluntary redundancy from her the head of finance role in the hospice due to the difficulty of performing the role in that environment with her ongoing health issues.

In July 2020 Steph was unlucky to get pancreatitis whilst travelling back from a family trip to Wales. I had to drive her straight to the Countess of Chester hospital where she spent 6 days as an inpatient. She received a maintenance CT scan shortly after this. This scan was “forgotten about” by her Clatterbridge oncologist and after 8 weeks of waiting, Steph made contact for an update. What followed was a “missed” diagnosis of further lymph node involvement. Radiologists & oncologists delayed any chemotherapy stating that the inflammation could be because of the pancreatitis. We took their professional advice and waited for a further scan in December 2020. We received a phone call from her oncologist on Christmas eve who informed us that there were 15 lung nodules, albeit small, now visible on her scan, Steph was now inoperable and incurable.

Steph endured gruelling chemotherapy from January 2021 until February 2022 with many debilitating side effects. It stopped working so she was given options for other lesser therapies to treat her “low volume” disease. This stopped working and we were then given the devastating news that she now has lesions in her liver.

Her option now is a re-challenge of the chemotherapy line previously used in 2016, along with a private drug called Avastin. This drug costs anywhere from £600 - £1000 every 2 weeks and is not available on the NHS, the price is dependent on the pharmacy prescribing.

Despite all this, Steph is the most kind, spiritual, determined, and loving person I’ve ever met. She is still working in a self-employed capacity and volunteers within our local church with events like the “Worship through play” session for our young parishioners. She tries her best to stay fit, she loves the gym and really enjoys running, her surgery and chemotherapy treatments often get in the way due to their side effects.

NHS treatment is limited compared to other countries. I am always looking for alternative treatment both within the UK and abroad, these are all costly options. For 18 months we have self-fund a private clinical trial with a clinic in London costing approximately £1500 a year. She uses multiple supplements which costs over £100 a month, and accesses alternative medicine such as acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen, IV Vitamin C and infra-red sauna. All this has cost several thousands of pounds and has been funded by ourselves and our family.

Steph will continue to be a wonderful mother, supportive & caring wife, daughter, sister and friend, diligent employee, and overall role model to all. She picks herself up despite all what’s gone before and lives her best life, supporting all around her. I am grateful that I have been able to love and support her for 7 years as I’m acutely aware that others have not had such time. There are still options available to keep Steph with us and I want to give her the chance to explore these.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support you wish to give.

****UPDATE****

Update from Andrew, Steph’s husband.

Steph is doing really well on her current treatment.

She was CT scanned in October after 6 cycles of Bevacizumab and Oxaliplatin. The results were really positive with 2+mm of shrinkage in all nodules in the lungs. What was more impressive was the 4 liver metastasis viewed in the summer had dramatic changes. 3 were now “cystic” in appearance and 1 had remained stable. Due to this news Steph’s oncologist recommended she remained on Bevacizumab & Oxaliplatin for another 6 cycles. Steph was CT scanned in January with mixed results. The lung nodules had increased 2mm which was disappointing however the remaining liver metastasis was still stable. There was no other evidence of disease noted. The oncologist has recommended that Steph continues on the same treatment citing these were positive results at this stage. Steph has had a further 2 cycles and remains well.

She is still working part time so she can contribute to her ongoing health care managing to work weekly alongside her treatments. She is doing hot yoga and continues to run. The specific side effects of the platinum treatment along with the general tiredness does take it’s toll though.

Where we can afford, she looks for support with the side effects through acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen and high dose vitamin C. Holistic treatments such as these come at a high cost but really help with her wellbeing. We have used a large portion of Steph’s inheritance to pay for everything so far. To date her private chemotherapy has cost in excess of £10,000 alongside her private clinical trial that costs approximately £2,000 a year. We fund the private clinical trial ourselves. Following these latest 6 cycles we are hoping to pay for private ablation treatment for the solitary liver metastasis. This is because of the accelerated growth rate of liver metastasis compared with other areas of the body.