Photo: mum recovering at home, so happy to be reunited with her animals.

Last year mum was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. She was swiftly treated with conventional chemotherapy at the wonderful royal Marsden in Sutton. Sadly the treatment didn’t keep the cancer at bay for long and it returned in an even more aggressive form almost immediately.

At the beginning of this year mum was offered the opportunity to try a cutting edge treatment that had only just been approved for use at Kings College Hospital. The incredible treatment, Car-T, had been used to treat other forms of cancer but mum was one of the first people in the UK to have it for Mantle Cell.

As with all medicine there were potential side effects but the Car - T could be a cure for mum’s cancer so she decided to go ahead with it. Unfortunately, the treatment caused shockingly severe, life threatening side effects which resulted in mum being in a coma for over two weeks.

Mum fought her toughest fight and after many weeks of intensive care and a total of 110 days in Kings College Hospital she was finally discharged, CANCER FREE, on 31st July!

The lengthy stay in hospital and the physical trauma has left her incredibly weak but she’s now rehabilitating at home with full time care and regular physiotherapy. To date, the Car - T consultants have not seen anyone survive the severity of side effects that mum had.

It has been a traumatic and emotional time for us all. Our family and friends have been a wonderful support. The quality of care, the expertise and the support we’ve had from King’s has been incredible. 

As a family we wanted to do something positive for the hospital and so we’re taking on The Great Hospital Hike to recognise their efforts and hopefully raise some money for them.

#teamwinter is now 27 strong and everyone is getting fit in preparation!

It’s a 17 mile hike starting at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill and ending at the sister hospital Royal Alexandra near Bromley, on Saturday 18th September- just 2 weeks to go now!!

Donations are not expected but any support will be very gratefully received. Thank you so much xxx