Mother diagnosed with terminal cancer after mistaking symptom for side effect of diet she was on
A mom has tragically been diagnosed with terminal cancer after brushing off a symptom as a side effect of the weight loss diet she was on.
Camilla Chapman, from West Sussex, UK, has been told she has just months to live after being diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer.
The mom-of-four said she first started struggling to swallow in March last year, which she initially shrugged off as a simple side effect of her low-calorie diet.
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However, in February a 'black cloud' cast over her young family as medics found a 'nasty lesion' following an endoscopy scan - and 10 days later was told the cancer had spread to her liver, lungs and lymph nodes on both sides of her oesophagus.
In her fundraiser, the 40-year-old wrote: "The doctor told us there was nothing he can do, surgery isn't an option and chemo may give us a bit more time but overall my life would be over within a year.
"Nothing prepares you for this news, my immediate thoughts were of my boys, seeing them grow up, marrying my fiancé and also how was I going to support my family financially."
Speaking to The Independent, Camilla added: "I was told there was nothing they can do; they can’t operate, and it is not curable. I was only offered palliative chemotherapy."
This only has a 50 percent chance of slowing the spread of the cancer and will still make her sick.
"I don't want to become a sick mummy," she continued. "I am refusing to believe that this is it and I will do anything to support my body through this."
Camilla told the news outlet that she was on a liquid-based diet and when soft food that she did eat, like pancakes, got stuck in her throat, she waived the issue away.
"I ignored it, thinking it was just because I hadn’t been eating properly and maybe I had just got lazy at chewing. I thought my body was just used to swallowing liquid and not food," she explained.
Three months later, she noticed a small lump in her jawline but failed to report her difficulty in swallowing to her doctor, which meant she only had an ultrasound scan that falsely reassured her 'nothing was wrong.'
By January, she had a creeping 'gut feeling' that something was amiss and went back to the doctor where she had a blood test, endoscopy on her digestive tract and biopsies which resulted in her devastating diagnosis that came all too late.
The nursery business owner is now urging others to pay attention to any symptoms, no matter how minor they may be.
Other symptoms of stomach cancer include poor appetite, stomach pain, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, swelling, feeling tired or weak and feeling full after eating a small meal, according to the American Cancer Society.
Camille is also looking for treatment abroad to 'prove that doctor wrong.'
Her boys, aged three, five, six and eight, are a motivating factor in her pursuit for alternative treatment as she said: "I can't even imagine not being here to see them grow up... It's just not an option."
Her JustGiving page has raised £31,833 (around $42,274) at the time of writing with hopes of hitting a £100k milestone.
Camilla added: "We have found a clinic abroad that offers all the treatments I need but it costs a fortune. To have a chance at healing from this, I need to go there.
"I have to beat this, I will beat this."
Topics: Cancer, Health, UK News, World News, Parenting, GoFundMe
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