Easter Ross mum hails pioneering cancer treatment
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AN Easter Ross mother has defied doctors who gave her a terminal cancer diagnosis after the pioneering treatment that she pressed for shrunk her tumour to half its size.
Mobile hairdresser Lucy Wilson found out last year she had endometrial cancer but she refused to accept the grim prognosis.
Demanding a second opinion, she was referred to specialists at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow and signposted to a potentially life-saving drugs treatment trial for a ground-breaking procedure called immunotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.
Her persistence appears to have paid off, handing her cause for optimism after scan results have revealed the cancer has shrunk back considerably.
And surgery to remove the lump could be back on the cards.
"It’s shocking to think that if I had accepted the awful news that we got in Inverness last year I might not be here," said the Evanton mother-of-three.
"They told me they had no cure, and the chemotherapy they had me on was making me worse. But after my fourth dose of treatment the tumour has halved in size and its shrunk my lymph nodes. It was brilliant to hear good news at long last. My doctors cannot believe how well it is going."
Ms Wilson’s life was turned around last year following the diagnosis.
She did not respond well to chemotherapy and has been plagued by large blood clot on her thigh which restricted her movement forcing her to spend a lot of time lying on her bed.
The positive-minded 39-year-old refused to give up.
Her determination to get well again sparked a massive community fundraiser for private treatment, which has so far raised more than £20,000.
The fund is currently being used to meet accommodation and travel expenses associated with her monthly stays in London while undergoing treatment.
Ms Wilson, who is mum to Chloe (18) and Caitlin (15) also has a 12-year-old called Savannah who was born with a developmental disorder called Williams Syndrome, said the care she is receiving under Dr Susana Banerjee, consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, was top notch.
"It has been unbelievably good," she said.
"It is so much better. They treat you like a person rather than a number on a piece of paper."
She went on: "What I have gone through should be a message to everyone. Don’t always listen to what the doctors tell you. They’re not always right."
Dr Susana Banerjee at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are delighted that Lucy’s tumour has shrunk in response to treatment and hope that other patients will benefit from the results of this trial. Immunotherapy is looking very promising for some patients with endometrial cancer, so we are excited about future research in this area."
An NHS Highland spokesman said it could not comment on individual cases.
He added: "We are sorry the patient is not happy with the care they received.
"We would welcome the opportunity to discuss her case in full and encourage her to contact our feedback team."
