Louise Hulme faces the toughest battle of her life – battling a brain tumour that threatens to take her away from her devoted family.
Her husband Kevin and her two children Charlotte and James are trying to raise enough money to fly the brave 48-year-old to the United States where she would receive groundbreaking treatment as part of a revolutionary medical trial – but it’s a race against time.
The Pamiparab trial at the Ivy Brain Tumour Centre in Phoenix, Arizona would take nine weeks and costs $162,000 - £150,000 - with flights and accommodation needed as well.
The family launched a fundraising page a few days ago and have been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and family as well as strangers who have heard about Louise’s journey with the total currently standing at £93,500.
Louise, who lives in Fearnhead, received the devastating diagnosis after suffering severe headaches at the end of 2019, which doctors suggested could be migraines.
It was after Louise, who used to go to the gym five times a week and was extremely fit, had a particularly bad headache while out with her mum and sister on January 2 last year that she was rushed to Warrington Hospital and, after several tests, she was told she had a brain tumour the following day.
She was operated on less than three weeks later at the Walton Centre with 90 per cent of the tumour being removed and was told it was stage four brain cancer.
Kevin said: “We were given the news that, although the operation had been successful, life expectancy was typically between 12 and 14 months.
“Louise’s age and fitness were positives were not guarantees that she would have longer and she had lost partial sight in one eye as a result of the tumour.
“Radiation and chemotherapy treatments have been ever-present throughout 2020 and in January 2021 we were given the hardest news that the tumour had grown in size.
“Surgery options in the UK were now exhausted.”
When faced with terminal cancer, some people throw themselves into ticking off experiences on their bucket list, determined to enjoy what time they have left.
Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns have meant that Louise and her family have been unable to do any of this, however they spent their time at home researching alternative treatments in other countries, which is when they read about the Ivy Centre in America.
Kevin said: “Every cloud has a silver lining because we used our time in lockdown to research and we discovered the trail blazing phase zero trials in Phoenix.
“They match drug combinations to individual tumours, looking at whether the drugs are able to penetrate the growth and if it has the desired effect.
“Over a number of months, we exchanged phone calls, emails and all of Louise’s medical notes including a sample of the tumour that was removed.
“I cannot find the words to express the hope I felt when I received the news that Louise was the perfect candidate for one of the trials.”
The trials have only been conducted on 12 patients but all have shown that the drugs penetrated the tumours and, in some of the early trials, the results have shown an extended life expectancy of up to seven years.
Kevin said: “I am not naive enough to think that this automatically gives us another seven years together, as every individual will react in a different way, but it does buy us some time – something that Louise has precious little of.
“The cost of the surgery is $162,000 before flights, transport and accommodation and it would require us being in Arizona for nine weeks.
“With a little love from family, friends and others touched by cancer around the world, we hope we can get over this hurdle and get on a plane to the States very soon.
“I hope that we are able to raise the funds and I hope that the trial is effective and gives Louise an extended life expectancy.
“I hope that she is around to watch our daughter get married next year and our son turn 21.
“I hope that, in time, another trial or cure is found to rid the world of this horrible disease.”
To make a donation to Louise's page visit https://gofund.me/2a2e90ee
For information about The Ivy Brain Tumour Centre visit https://www.ivybraintumorcenter.org/
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