A WOMAN who has endured a relentless five year battle against cancer has been delivered the devastating news her diagnosis is terminal… but is refusing to give up.
Monique Buckingham, from Colchester, was just 21 when she was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2017.
Now 26, she has endured at least 92 cycles of chemotherapy and has seen her cancer spread all over her abdominal cavity – including her uterus, womb and ovaries.
But the defiant young woman is determined to keep on fighting as she is seeking to raise up to £500,000 to fund groundbreaking treatment which could prolong her life.
Read more: Family in bid to raise £200,000 to save brave Monique after cancer returns
The full extent of her cancer was discovered after she underwent a 14-and-a-half hour long HIPEC surgery which uses heated chemotherapy to attack the cancerous cells.
During this procedure Monique lost more than 90 per cent of her small bowel, two thirds of her large colon and layers of abdominal linings.
She was thrown into surgical menopause through having to undergo a total hysterectomy with bilateral oophorectomy during a series of gruelling procedures.
And at the end of last year, she was readmitted as an inpatient to hospital and received the devastating news her cancer has now caused a bowel obstruction.
It means her condition is too far advanced to benefit from any further trials in the UK and subsequently she has been placed on an end of life care programme with a terminal diagnosis.
Yet along with her parents Paul and Anne, Monique remains determined to try to seek alternative pioneering bowel cancer treatments and therapies overseas.
Mr Buckingham said: “The whole family have been rocked by this catastrophic development but our strong, brave, beautiful daughter is just not prepared to give up on her life however painful and restricting it may be.
Read more: Young cancer survivors: 'This can happen to anyone at any time'
“Constant research has revealed a number of ongoing treatment projects for bowel cancer around the world which obviously are outlandishly expensive but we are determined to raise enough money for her to receive any groundbreaking treatment which will fight the cancer and prolong her life.”
You can support the Buckingham family here.
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