Cancer diagnosis and treatment can leave us desperate to feel ourselves again and enjoy the things that always made us happy. It highlights what is important to us and what makes us all smile. The following story is about Angela Ashwell, a local woman fighting not only Cancer diagnosis, but also the challenges of Coronavirus. This story is written in Angela’s own words:
“Hi, my name is Angela. I was diagnosed on the 15th April 2020 with terminal stomach cancer, plus nodules on my lungs, which the doctors are not sure if they are cancerous or not. I have a CT scan on 4th October to see if the nodules have changed, although I have since been told they are not secondary to the stomach cancer. I had a face to face with Dr. Derby, my oncologist at Weston park hospital, who gave me the devastating news not only to myself but to my husband, my 2 daughters and my 2 stepdaughters. The options I were giving at that meeting were, I could wait and see if any more symptoms appear, or try chemotherapy, but made it quite clear that it would be only palliative, there is no cure. The prognosis I was given was months, nots years.
After speaking with my family, I decided to try the chemotherapy, hoping that I might get some more time with my family. I was to have 6 cycles consisting of 18 weeks with no breaks. I started my first cycle on the 18th of June and carried on for 9 weeks, but it made me so ill i wasn’t able to do the usual everyday things. I love walking but the chemotherapy affected my legs badly, I was unable to walk longer than 20 minutes. Before the chemo I could walk 10 miles easily and once we were allowed to go further afield ( due to covid lock down) my husband and I would drive to Derbyshire with our little dog Sadie and do some beautiful walks. That is my happy place, walking in our beautiful countryside.
So, I decided to stop the chemotherapy treatment on the 19th August with Dr. Derby agreeing with me, based on the side effects I was suffering. A friend of mine told me about EvesTrust so my husband Steve got in touch and a man from the charity, “Clynton”, phoned him back. The intention was to try and arrange a break to one of the Scottish islands, which is something I’ve always wanted to do but have never got on with it. I am feeling so much better now, more myself, so I am so looking forward to getting my walking boots on and into the countryside. The positive feeling and emotion of being able to do something I love again, is all down to Clynton and the team at EvesTrust. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Angela”
Post Dream Angela continued to say:
“My husband and I have just returned from a beautiful 5-night stay on the isle of mull. For a longest time, I have thought about how I would love to do some walking on that island. The island is simply beautiful. We did some lovely walks with amazing views and we have made some wonderful memories, I felt like myself again.
Many, many thanks to all at EvesTrust, it really is very much appreciated but us both. Love Angie and Steve”
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