A Radlett mum who was given three months to live has released a heartfelt statement as her lifesaving treatment in Germany has just begun.
Melissa Crampton, 40, who’s lived in Radlett for her entire life, found out she had secondary breast cancer in her liver and spine around 16 months ago and said that immunotherapy treatment in Germany was her last hope of seeing her four children grow up.
Following RadlettNews’ coverage for Melissa’s fundraising page last month, she has provided us with a statement and update for our readers.
She said: “First and foremost, we would like to say a truly heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for supporting us. We believed that trying to raise £40k to start treatment was near on impossible. But our amazing family, friends and the community of Radlett and beyond showed us that anything is possible in record time.
“We had a disco and auction night which was a fantastic success. Lots of money was raised and hopefully everyone really enjoyed the evening.
“We have already spent quite a bit on this initial part of the treatment but each vaccine and hyperthermia treatment, which I need every four weeks, will cost £7,500, plus travel and hotel etc. For the last trip, my husband Joe drove us to Germany as this was the cheapest option. This all means that we will need to continue with the fundraising events.
“Again thank you to everyone for giving me the chance to fight this cancer and live to see my four beautiful children grow up and for my wonderful husband to see his wife get better.
“My first trip to Germany did not quite go to plan. We arrived there on the August 18 but unfortunately the chemotherapy that I have been receiving had knocked my blood levels so low that I was unable to start the treatment and I was sent home to wait for my blood levels to recover. Naturally, we were completely disappointed and feared that time was running out. We were told that I would have to stop the chemo and give it three weeks but my levels went up enough in two weeks so the clinic agreed to do the treatment – so we made our second journey to Germany and this time we needed to be there for 10 days.
“We knew at this point, due to my blood levels, that I would not be able to have the Leukapheresis, blood collection by machine, but they would do a manual collection to see if they could get enough cells to do one vaccine, which would at least get my treatment started. To our amazement, the clinic decided to go ahead with the Leukapheresis to collect the cells which meant they might be able to get enough cells for more than one treatment, as I would need a minimum of six treatments.
“While the clinic was making my vaccines I started hyperthermia and other treatments. This was to prepare my liver for the vaccine. On the day that I was due to have the first vaccine we were informed by the clinic that they had managed to take out enough cells for possibly 15 treatments! The remainder of the cells would be frozen and defrosted for each of my monthly visits. This was amazing news as it meant that I would now have enough frozen cells to have more treatments and my time in Germany would only be for four days and not 10, as we will not have to go through cell collection each time.”
To help Melissa cover her treatment, donate at gofundme.com/f/please-help-give-me-the-chance-to-live
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