Woman needs £55,000 as NHS won't pay for life-saving cancer surgery

Woman needs £55,000 as NHS won't pay for life-saving cancer surgery She went for a routine appoointment and came out with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis A woman who thought she was fit and healthy went in for a routine medical exam, and came out with a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Sandra Standing was undergoing a standard health check for an insurance policy when a blood test revealed abnormalities in her liver function. Doctors sent the 52-year-old for an ultrasound, which found a tumour in her liver. Further tests, including an MRI scan, confirmed she had stage four bile duct cancer. It shook my world,” she said. “But I’m also incredibly methodical. I can’t control it. I can’t get rid of it. I have to just sit with it and accept it, but I will fight it.” Since her diagnosis, Sandra from Hadlow, Kent, has undergone eight cycles of chemotherapy alongside immunotherapy, shrinking the tumour from 12cm to 9.5cm, but it remains too large for surgeons to remove. She is now hoping to undergo Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT), which delivers radiation directly to the tumour in the hope of shrinking it enough for surgeons to remove it and save her life. She says the procedure is approved for use by the NHS for her condition but is not funded, leaving her to pay for it herself. Cromwell Hospital in London has quoted her £50,865 for the treatment, with consultations, blood tests, scans and other associated medical costs expected to bring the total to around £55,000. Faced with having to find the money herself, Sandra asked members of the Tunbridge Mums Facebook group for advice on how she might raise it. Several suggested setting up a GoFundMe page, an idea she initially resisted. “I can’t do that. It feels like begging,” she said. Sandra changed her mined after one woman told her: “You need to beg for your life.” Within the first three days, around £21,000 had been donated towards the £55,000 target. “The generosity and kindness has absolutely blown me away,” she said. “I’m not fundraising because it’s promised SIRT will save my life. I’m fundraising because it might give me another door to walk through, and I’m not ready to stop knocking on all those doors.” Before her diagnosis, Sandra had built a life around her work, friends, travel and the independence she fiercely values. She worked in private equity in London from 2000 until 2018 before becoming a foster carer for 18 months. She later moved into the fostering sector professionally and now works in business development for an independent fostering agency. In 2021, Sandra moved to Portugal with her then partner, but their relationship did not survive the challenges of starting a new life abroad and he eventually returned to the UK. Left on her own in a country where she initially spoke no Portuguese, Sandra was determined not to give up. She stayed, learned the language and built a life for herself, going on to spend what she describes as four wonderful years in Portugal. “I was not coming home because my partner couldn’t hack it, so I stayed on my own and I made an amazing life out here,” she said. That same determination now shapes the way she approaches her illness. Sandra continues to work and goes to the gym three times a week with a personal trainer. She also has a passion for fast cars and drives a BMW M4 convertible. “I drive an incredibly fast car. It is my love of life,” she said. “I have always been quite spirited with a lot of character. I’m incredibly stubborn, proud and independent, and I am like a bulldozer. If I want something, I will go all out until I can get it.” She refuses to allow cancer to take over the life she has built. “It is not in my nature to sit down and feel sorry for myself,” she said. “It is in my nature to stand up and fight. It is in my nature to go out every day and do all the things I do.” Looking back at her decision to move abroad, Sandra says she is particularly grateful that she did not wait until later in life to pursue something she wanted. “How many people think about living abroad and actually do it, and I made it happen,” she said. “Imagine if I’d have waited till retirement. I probably won’t get to retirement age. So I’ve had it and I’ve done it and that’s incredible.” Sandra continues to receive immunotherapy and says her cancer has remained stable since June. On her fundraising page, she calls her supporters “My Army” and says what their donations could ultimately give her is something precious. “Time,” she said. “For hopes, dreams, places to visit, people to annoy and far too much chaos left to cause.” You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-fight-for-more-time-ive-got-chaos-to-cause