A MOTHER of three from near Malpas says she will ‘continue the fight’ against cancer as a fundraiser for her treatment reaches nearly £25,000.

Jennie Walsh, whose children attend Bishop Heber High School, is currently receiving treatment for cancer on her kidney, liver and lungs after being diagnosed in September 2020.

The cancer is a reoccurance of cervical cancer from 2015, for which Jennie received an operation to remove the cancerous cells.

The discovery that the cancer had reoccurred was discovered when Jennie visited her doctor in March 2020 after suffering ‘severe’ abdominal pain.

It was initially believed that the pain was because of an ovarian cyst and Jennie’s GP believed the pain was psychosomatic.

After receiving scans and surgery it was eventually discovered that the cancer from 2015 had returned and in February 2021 Jennie received the bad news that the cancer had spread to her other organs.

In response to this a fundraiser was launched with the aim of raising around £3,000 to cover the cost of consultations.

But the fundraiser has snowballed and now stands at £23,000, to which Jennie’s sister Katie says she is ‘overwhelmed’ by.

“This was started to raise some money for my sister Jennie to initially get some private consultations booked,” said Katie. “We honestly thought we would raise about £3,000, if that!

“[A day] later, we have overwhelming support from so many people, so much advice and leads to look into, the opportunity for her story to be heard, hope that someone out there has the cure and just over £22,000 to pay for whatever treatment Jennie needs and to make amazing memories with my nieces and nephew.”

Jennie, originally from Liverpool and now living in Farndon, explained her experience.

“In 2015 I went for my regular smear test that came back abnormal,” said Jennie. “Further investigation discovered cancerous cells, only small ones that they managed to remove.

“From then on I had my regular smears and check ups with the gynaecology clinic and all came back clear.

“In march 2020 I was suffering with serve abdominal pain. I was given an ultrasound which discovered I had a cyst on my ovaries.

“Doctors thought this wouldn’t cause me so much pain as it was only small.

“So from March to September I was in so much pain it had a huge impact on my life and I wasn’t able to work as much or do normal day to day things that I could always do.

“In July 2020 gynaecology discharged me saying there was nothing they could do as it wasn’t their department. My GP said it was all in my head but I refused to believe this so requested another ultrasound.

“By September 2020 I went for my ultrasound where they discovered the fluid on my kidney wasn’t draining.

“The sonographer referred this to the urologist. I was booked in for a CT scan to discover a mass in my pelvis.

“I was then referred back to the gynaecology department. From then I had MRI scan, PET CT scan which confirmed it was cervical cancer reoccurance from 2015.

“The mass is on my tubes from my kidney to the bladder which caused kidney failure .

“In November 2020 I had surgery to fit a stent/nephrostomy bag and I had a biopsy on the mass.

“The stent and nephrostomy was a success and the nephrostomy bag was removed in December, the biopsy confirmed it was cancer.”

After this discovery chemotherapy plans were put in place to tackle the resurgent cancer.

“I sat down with my consultant to discuss a treatment plan,” added Jennie. “Surgery and radiotherapy were not a option at this time as the cancer is on a major artery.

“They planned six rounds of chemotherapy with a CT scan in between.”

“On February 9 2021 I had my CT scan, after three rounds of chemo, and got the results two days later.”

Following these results Jennie discovered the treatment was not working and the cancer had spread.

“The chemotherapy wasn’t working and the cancer has now spread to my liver and lungs,” Jennie added. “Not the news I expected and devastating.”

Despite her condition, Jennie says she will continue fighting.

“I wasn’t given a good prognosis, but I am not giving up yet,” she added. “I still have one hell of a fight in me.

“Although chemotherapy has stopped I’m looking at trials and other treatments.

“So I’m now concentrating on that and making memories with my beautiful family.”

To donate to the fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/treatment-for-our-jennie