AN Irish woman fighting a rare form of cancer has been told she’s got just weeks to live.
But Laura Gilmore Anderson, 35, from Longford, is battling to raise over €475,000 in a bid to fly to Mexico for potentially life-saving treatment.
Laura was told all preventative treatment has failed
Laur and husband Paul are now desperately trying to raise funds for treatmentCollect gofundme
Laura got the news after a once in a lifetime trip
She said: “I am too young to die, I am only 35 and I don’t want to give up. I am still breathing and all I can say is ‘Please God, give me a chance to get this treatment and give me more time’.”
Laura was told by doctors this week to effectively go home and spend her final days with her family.
Her body has been ravaged by neuroendocrine tumours over the last three years.
But medics found all preventative treatments used to stop their spread had failed.
Laura, who lives in Scotland with her husband Paul, received the heartbreaking news just days after enjoying a once in a lifetime trip to Disneyland Paris.
She said: “I had a scan on Monday because I had been feeling unwell and had been in a lot of pain.
“My stomach was swollen and I just thought I was going in to get it drained but then I got the terrible news.”
Laura was first diagnosed with the cancer in July 2020 and was treated with chemotherapy.
But she was forced to look for alternative remedies due to the gruelling treatment’s debilitating side effects
In July 2021, Laura, thanks to sustained fundraising on both sides of the Irish Sea, flew out to Mexico’s Hope for Cancer clinic, a facility recognised as a world leader in holistic oncology.
HOPES DASHED
However, last year Laura’s hopes were dealt a further blow when doctors informed her the cancer had now spread to her liver and lymphatic system, something which saw her undergo peptide receptor radionuclide therapy in Glasgow.
But the devastating news delivered this week has all but ended any hopes Laura had of continuing mainstream cancer treatments at home, leaving a return trip to Mexico as her only option.
Moments after learning of the news on Thursday, she posted a heartbreaking video appeal online.
It helped a GoFundMe appeal in her name reach €270,000 — the amount she initially believed would cover her treatment in Mexico.
She said: “The new mass on my pelvis is 10x7cm which is very big and my liver is nearly covered. I just felt I was back in July 2020 when I first got the diagnosis.
“When you are told, ‘Laura you are not responding to any of the preventions in treatment we are offering, we don’t want you to try chemotherapy because you are not going to come out of the hospital again and it will shorten your time span to live, that we just want you to enjoy the time left with your family’ — how do you take that?
“I was in sheer panic and went outside for fresh air and rang my sister. It was there I did a video and it got a phenomenal response.”
TOUGH TARGET
But the former Sligo IT graduate said the discovery that her tumours have not just grown but spread to her pelvis has meant an original €270,000 target has now been revised to upwards of €475,000.
Laura explained: “Due to the complexity of my case and before we found out this news we thought I would need three treatments, but now it’s looking like six to nine treatments of immunotherapy.”
She also faces having to undergo potentially life-saving treatment in Germany before flying to Mexico.
Her plight is made all the more heartbreaking amid fears her condition went undiagnosed for three years despite countless medical visits and having spent months off work owing to crippling pain.
Fighting back tears, Laura thanked the public, adding: “If only love and kindness could cure me, I would be cured right now.”
To donate to Laura’s appeal, visit her GoFundMe page here.