wigs to wishes.org.uk

The “Dawn Hughes Wigs to Wishes Fund” has been set up to enable me to receive further treatment at an Oncology Clinic in Germany where they have had a high success rate in stopping the spread of Cancer in patients and giving them the best possible chance of remission. The Berkshire Cancer Centre have informed me that there is little chance of my Cancer going into remission with the treatment available in this country.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my website. I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a wife and mother of 3 young children, Matthew 13, Ellie 10 and Freddie 6. I was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2001 at the age of 36. Following Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, I was in remission until a chance MRI scan in Feb 2005 for an unrelated problem, detected that the Cancer had returned. I was then diagnosed with Secondary Breast Cancer. The likely prognosis given in February was 18 months to 5 years. I then had to undergo aggressive Chemotherapy, but following the results of a recent bone scan, it was found that the Cancer is still spreading. The treatment in Germany will cost thousands of pounds and for most people like myself, the opportunity for this is a dream. Many of my Family and Friends want to make this dream a reality and are making tremendous fund raising efforts, because without them, I would not be able to seek the treatment that I so obviously need and which is not being offered in this country.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Cancer Drug debate

There's been a lot in the press recently about access to cancer drugs on the NHS. I'm seeing my UK Onc on Wednesday to ask about two drugs that the German Onc suggests I should have (Tykerb and Avastin). Neither of them have been passed for use on the NHS. I'm becoming so frustrated by the NHS. There are drugs out there that can prolong my life, they have been proven to be successful in the US and Europe and yet the UK won't make them available because they are expensive. What kind of support is that from your own country? Even if I wanted to pay privately for a drug in this country you can't because you then have to pay for everything privately. You can't mix and match your treatment which is why I am so much better off going to Germany. You don't get the service you should from this country because they know they can't afford to tell you about a drug that would help you!

The BBC have been running a campaign this week to highlight more information about cancer and I sent in an email to comment on the fact that drugs were not being made available quickly enough to the NHS patients. My comments were picked up at the BBC and they contacted me and asked if I would take part in an interview on News 24 with a guy from NICE. In for a penny in for a pound!! The interview lasted approximately 5 minutes. I was then asked if it was okay to broadcast parts of the interview on Radio 5 Live which I agreed to. I didn't get to see or hear any of the interview so it was all a bit of a blur really.

posted by Dawn  

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home