In Manchester, England, a young woman is busy dying. This is her story.
"Lyndsey
is a 27 year old professional young woman working for an established PR
Marketing Company as a HR Manager in Manchester.
When
you meet Lyndsey, you would get the feeling that she was confident but down to
earth, strong but fiercely ambitious. You
would not think for a minute that on the 12th April 2012, she had
been told that the brain tumour she has battled with for 3 years has now become
inoperable and they cannot find a cure.
She
is positive, she is funny, she has an amazing smile, and even the side-effects
of the chemotherapy are not getting her down.
Her positivity and her determination to beat this disease are evident:
she is a fighter.
In
November 2009, Lindsey had a routine eye check with the opticians. She was having trouble with headaches, with
blurred vision during the day and dizzy spells. She thought this was just a
symptom of her hectic social life, but the optician saw something different - they
suspected ‘Papilledema’ – ‘pressure, in or around the brain caused by bleed or
tumour’.
After
an examination CT and MRI scan it was confirmed that there was a tumour on the
right frontal lobe of her brain. An operation to remove the tumour was done on
Christmas Eve 2009. After a biopsy of
the tumour she was told the tumour was benign, and although scans were
scheduled for every 6 months all was fine.
On
24th December 2010, (Christmas Eve again) she was told the tumour
was back, in the same place but more aggressive - it was now a Grade III Oglioastrocytoma.
This time, the tumour was malignant.
Another operation was scheduled for the first week in January 2011.
Lyndsey took it in stride, positive and determined to get on with whatever
treatment was given to beat this disease.
Radiotherapy was the option.
In
April 2011, Lyndsey had to endure 10 weeks of intensive Radiotherapy. Despite
her positive attitude, she worried about losing her hair, although when the
inevitable happened and she did lose it, she decided to focus on the positives
again.
Treatment
was working.
This
time, scans were scheduled for every 3 months; and everything was going great.
On the 7th December 2011 Lyndsey and her family celebrated when they
got the wonderful news that the tumour was gone.
A
scan wasn’t scheduled till 17th April 2012, but she didn’t get that far. On
Easter weekend - 5th April 2012 - Lyndsey didn’t feel well at all
and had to be rushed to hospital. She knew, deep down inside, from her symptoms,
that the tumour was back.
On Monday 9th April, 2012 it was
confirmed that the tumour was back a Grade IV ‘Glioblastoma’, although not in
the same place. It had now moved to the “left frontal lobe”.
The
surgeon explained that the tumour was far more aggressive than before, and they
would not be able to operate because of the damage that it would do to her
life, her memory, her ability to walk, talk and think, so an operation is not
an option.
As
it is so soon after her previous radiotherapy treatment this too is no longer
an option, leaving her with chemotherapy is the only choice she has. Chemotherapy has started, but has been
described as ‘palliative care’ - is given to prolong life, and improve quality
of life.
The
diagnosis is not good, but to Lyndsey the future is still bright, just wanting
to live everyday as it comes.
In
all the time that Lyndsey has been living and dealing with this awful disease, she
has never once pitied herself or her situation, she considers that this experience
has helped her to grow as an individual. Her ability to remain positive and not
be scared has meant that everyone whose life she touches is therefore not
scared and always positive about the future.
Throughout
this journey, Lyndsey has always planned that once she had recovered she would
go travelling, specifically to Asia, Thailand and Vietnam, a spiritual journey,
to be able to sit with the Buddhists, and find herself.
But
with the devastating news that she recently received, time is not on her side.
There is little time to plan, little time to accept the news - all that is left
is time to do!
So
our plan is to raise as much money as we can to give Lyndsey the holiday of her
dreams, to travel through Vietnam, and do every thing she has always wanted,
packing every day with fun filled days and laughter. Due to the severity of her illness the cost
of insurance and travel is very expensive, so our target is £15,000.
Events
are being held all over the place to help raise funds, by the Lyndsey Roughton
Purple Heart Brain Tumour Fund, we would really appreciate your support; please
find details of some of our up and coming events below:
26th
May, 2012 Pavo
– Sings Location: Bees Knees, Cirencester
1st
June, 2012 Golf Fund
Raiser Location: TBC
4th
June, 2012 Duck Race Location: South Cerney, Cirencester
9th
June, 2012 Casino Royale
Night Location: 3D Organisation, Manchester
TBC Electro
Night – Music Location: TBC, Manchester
TBC Walk,
Aberdeen – Forfar Location: 55 miles, Scotland
Total
raised so far, (within 4 weeks) is
£5664.79"
=====================================================
Full disclosure - I know Lyndsey's mom and her partner through work connections. The family have a site link which is currently being re-built, and I'll post an update when that happens.
We can't fix this. No matter how much money we raise, the situation is that there is no cure - although I'm not counting Lyndsey out just yet; pure determination and positive thinking do amazing things. What this will do is hopefully help someone achieve their dream before they leave the skin of this world and the light goes out.
That's where the writing thing comes in useful. The plan is to put together a short story anthology to be published as an ebook, all proceeds to go to the family.
If you're a writer, or know anyone who writes, and you'd like to donate a story, please let me know - you can contact me at jhsked(at)hotmail.com. Authors will keep all rights to their stories, but there is no payment or fee for this one.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment