Mum told to ‘go home and get her affairs in order’ after devastating cancer diagnosis - asking for your help

In an GoFundMe appeal 27-year-old Jemma McGowan from Omagh in Co Tyrone said she is now facing a cancer diagnosis for a second time - but this time the prognosis is poor.

She aims to raise £70,000 for treatment in Mexico - and has already secured more than £20,000 in a crowdfunding appeal.

The appeal adds: “So on these grounds, Belfast oncologist team have decided to stop my chemotherapy for now.

“We have been advised to get our affairs in order and been told it is reasonable to believe I have only ONE year to live ...

“How can I be expected to accept that?

“I simply can’t accept it because I have 3 small children, Sadie is 4, Louis is 1 and Betty is only 15 weeks.

“I am such a positive person, I live for my family and I have such a zest for life.

“I NEED to be here to see my wee babies grow up and to be their mummy.

“We as a family have been researching alternative therapy to try and prolong my life.

“We have so much faith in Hope4cancer in Mexico and we are begging for the kindness and support from strangers to help this become a reality and get me to Mexico.

“Please please if you have read this story please donate something. if you can, no matter how small. Every penny is so gratefully

appreciated.”

The appeal further explains that in August 2016 when Jemma was pregnant with her first baby (Sadie) she was diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer.

This was removed surgically when she was 17 weeks pregnant.

“I was told it was a very rare cancer, low grade, not known to spread or become aggressive,” she said in the appeal.

“My consultant removed my left ovary, fallopian tube and the “Basaloid Carcenoma Brenners tumour.”

“We never looked behind us, Sadie was born in December 2016 and I was very healthy and happy with no symptoms of cancer and all clear with bloods results and scans since.

“I went on to get married to my amazing husband Clive, and we had another little baby (Louis). He was born in November 2020.”

She adds in the appeal that she “experienced pain throughout the pregnancy in my lower back and pelvis but with clear blood results and scans I was assured there was nothing to worry about”.

“I then became pregnant with our third little baby (Betty), and at 35 weeks pregnant, on the 9th January I found a lump.

“I visited my midwife who red flagged me to my consultant who rushed me for a MRI.

“It was agreed that I should get booked in early and for a planned procedure instead of waiting for a natural birth due to the placement of the lump.

“Betty was then delivered by C-Section and the growth removed for Biopsy on the 25th January 2021.

“The next day, I was sent for a full body CT scan where the results then showed a tumour in my left lung as well as three on my pelvic bones.

“On the 9th February we had our meeting with the Oncologist in Belfast and they confirmed my diagnosis of Advanced Stage 4 Incurable Ovarian Cancer .

“My Cancer is acting very unusually and aggressively and has no documented cases reported in the Medical Journals, which makes it difficult for my Oncology team to know exactly the best course of treatment or a prognosis of how treatment will react with the tumours so it is a trial and error sort of process, which I’m really struggling to accept.

“Since then, I have received 3 very intense rounds of two different types of chemotherapy in Belfast.

“The 3 rounds of chemo have been physically, mentally and emotionally the toughest 12 weeks of my life to date.

“I have got up every morning and with the help of my family around me, have got my little girl to school and looked after my other 2 babies.

““They have been my life line as I battled through each round of chemo with them in the front of my mind keeping me fighting.”

She added: “Today, 10th May 2021 we had a meeting with the oncologist in Belfast to review my latest CT results. They have confirmed my worst nightmare that there are new tumours in the pelvic area and pubic bone.

“The lung tumour has shrunk slightly which has given me hope that the tumours can be reduced in size in order to prolong my life.

So on these grounds, Belfast oncologist team have decided to stop my chemotherapy for now.”

If you want to help Jemma see her appeal here_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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