Cancer victim to receive treatment
Liz Coates A cancer victim mum is this week preparing to travel to Marseilles to receive specialist radiation treatment paid for by well-wishers whose contributions have topped £17,000.
Liz Coates
A cancer victim mum is this week preparing to travel to Marseilles to receive specialist radiation treatment paid for by well-wishers whose contributions have topped £17,000.
Julie Truss, 41, of Ingham, near Stalham is suffering from an aggressive form of breast cancer and is paying £2000 a month for Tykerb, also known as Lapatinib, which stalls the progress of cancer but is unlicensed in the UK.
Now she hopes a gamma knife procedure which uses targeted radiation to shrink lesions that have spread to her brain will give her more time with husband Steven and daughter Francesca, 13, and is travelling to France on Monday for the surgery.
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This week her friend Victoria Hansen who has co-ordinated a raft of fundraising events including an auction said she had bombarded the Prime Minister, North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb and conservative leader David Cameron with emails highlighting Julie's plight.
“Everyone is pulling out all the stops to extend her life expectancy,” she said.
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Money spinning events like coffee mornings, tarot readings and anonymous donations have raised just over £17,000 since October with around £15,300 already spent on five months' supply of Tykerb, two scans and three days in Marseilles.
Julie was diagnosed with the aggressive form of breast cancer in 2003 at the age of 37 and has explored a range of treatment options, facing difficult choices and not always seeing eye to eye with consultants. After radiotherapy and an operation to remove the tumours she was given just 12 months. Four years on she has defied the grim prognosis but the cancer has spread to her bones, skin and brain. The family say on their website that the NHS can no longer help them and that they are seeking private treatment.
Friends and neighbours are hosting a coffee morning at Ingham Village Hall next Friday between 10am and midday. On Saturday February 16 there will be a winter barbecue with a hot buffet and games from 6.30pm at Manor Barn Marquee, Catfield. Tickets priced £10 and £5 are available via 07789 968622.
For more information about Julie and the money raised so far visit www.campaignforjulie.com.
