A Preston mum is aiming to raise up to £50,000 to pay for a specialised liver cancer treatment that is not available through the NHS.
Fifty per cent of all funds that are raised will go towards the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
Qudsiya Gavar has recently set up a Just giving page which has raised over £6900. The mum of two suffered from headaches and high blood pressure over a year ago, and when she went to the Opticians for a routine check-up, she was told that there was a tumour in the back of her left eye.
Qudsiya was urgently referred to the eye hospital, and after having a coloured angiography, she was diagnosed with choroidal melanoma.
She posted on Just Giving, “Treatment started at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in November 2018.”
“This was Proton Beam Therapy and was very successful, however devastating news quickly followed that a biopsy had revealed I had secondary cancer in my liver. Unfortunately, I have a condition whereby I can’t have general anaesthetics due to allergies and also suffer from Chronic Idiopathic Angioedema.”
“This made surgery at this time impossible & the only course of treatment would be chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”
In February 2019, after chemotherapy wasn’t as successful as hoped, it was agreed that doctors would start a course of immunotherapy.
She said, “This involves my own T-Cells being modified in a lab (don’t worry, I don’t think they’re going to clone me) and Immunotherapy treatment was carried out to combat the cancer. Immunotherapy is in its infancy in terms of treatment and is very expensive, not readily available on the NHS & it would only continue to be available to me if the results were deemed positive.”
“After eight visits to Clatterbridge and completing tests, it was explained to me that the tumours hadn’t shrunk. However, the growth had been stunted as a result of the combined treatments.”
“We are now at a stage where it has been agreed that starting in July I will have both chemotherapy & immunotherapy alongside each other to reduce the tumour to a size where it would be safe to carry out keyhole surgery.”
“The consultants are very positive about its potential success, and despite knowing how tough chemotherapy is, it is the most optimistic I have been since my diagnosis almost 12 months ago. However, to complete this treatment, I have had to provide a significant sum of money as the cost is too great to receive it from the NHS considering the treatment I have already received. “
Qudsiya said that she set up the page to raise both funds to contribute towards paying for her treatment to raise awareness of the support that Cancer treatments need in order to continue finding ways to cure this terrible disease.
She adds, “The support and care I have received from the staff at Clatterbridge and from my nurse who comes to visit me throughout this time has been exceptional. I’m not always the ray of sunshine you all think I am, at times it has been incredibly difficult just to open my eyes & face the world. They never wavered and wouldn’t allow me to give up.”
“My personal inspiration has been and will always be my two beautiful children. At just five and very recently 3, they are my world.”
“Not being able to spend time with them in these formative years has been incredibly difficult, whilst also being so tough for them both watching me go through the treatments. They are so precious and very cheeky, they make my heart swell whenever I’m with them and provide all the motivation I need to beat this.”
