A woman who didn't tell friends she had double ovarian cancer has set up a fundraiser to buy life changing equipment for Liverpool Women's Hospital (LWH).
Abby Younis, diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020, has a target to raise £50,000 to buy a Mona Lisa Touch Laser for LWH. The laser will provide free treatment for women via the NHS.
Being £10,000 short of the target, Abby held an event at the Florrie, in Toxteth, towards the outstanding amount in March, and she has now raised over £42,000 to date. Abby has a JustGiving page as well as a further fundraiser set for June 12 called 'Menopause, Movement & Mindfulnes' at The Hope Street Hotel, sponsored by Reformer Retreats.
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Abby told the ECHO : "I feel I have been supremely lucky at a very scary and uncertain time that my treatment was quite quick. I wanted to give back for all the help and support I was provided during my treatment.
"There is never a good time to be told you have cancer, however, being diagnosed at the time of a global pandemic has got to be one of the worst. Going through cancer without being able to see my friends and family was very hard.
"I told a handful of people, everyone had enough to worry about. Having said this, I cannot believe how supremely lucky I have been to have been treated during the covid lockdown, when operating theatres were closing up and down the country."
She added: "I heard about women suffering debilitating symptoms of surgical menopause and the treatment to this is simple, effective and life changing however, it is not available on the NHS. I proposed the idea of fundraising for the Mona Lisa Touch Laser to the LWH so that they could be the first hospital to offer this."
Abby heard about the laser during some private treatment and said: "The laser will be life changing for a lot of women suffering from the urogenital side effects of surgical menopause (forced menopause a result of surgery for hormonal cancers e.g. breast, ovarian, cervical and endometrial cancers). A pulmonary embolism, two cancers and three surgeries later I would like to bring about something positive from my experience.”
Abby has a JustGiving set up, but wanted a fun way to raise the remainder of the money and the fundraiser in March helped towards the target. On the night they had a Bollywood DJ, dance acts, raffles, auctions, food and more and raised well over £1,000.
Executive board members of the LWH attended along with Abby's consultant, Paula Briggs and her doctors from the Marybone Health Centre and Abby said: “They supported me throughout my illness”. There were speeches made on the night too.
Abby added: "I cannot believe in this day and age of medical advances there is no treatment available on the NHS for a condition which affects thousands of women and will continue to impact many more in the future. The sooner we can purchase the laser, the sooner clinical trials can start and once approval has been provided for the LWH to provide this treatment there is no doubt the rest of the country will follow".
Abby’s consultant Paula Briggs said: "At Liverpool Women’s Hospital, we aspire to run the randomised clinical trials which NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) have asked for, using the Mona Lisa Touch Laser and a sham or dummy comparator.
"The trial, once we have the necessary equipment, will be for breast cancer patients initially. These women often experience more severe symptoms, due to treatments designed to block oestrogen. Although we cannot be certain of the outcome, good quality research is needed in order to make a decision about the potential benefits of this treatment on the NHS.
"Without Abby’s campaign, we would not have been in a position to do this. We are very grateful to Abby and the other patients involved in Women Conquering Cancer. They are the reason for the dedication of our staff and one of the reasons that we have continued despite all the challenges of the last two years."
Abby added: "This means the world to me. I want to look back at my cancer journey as a time of positivity and not the nightmare it was. This campaign has been a difficult one to raise funds for as it will not save the planet or even lives, a Cinderella cause, however, it will change the lives of hundreds and thousands of women dramatically.”
Donations can be made via: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/abbyyounis-womenconqueringcancer and information on the June fundraiser can be found via: www.reformerretreats.com
