A mum who thought she was just fighting off a flu was told she doesn't have long left to live after being diagnosed with an aggressive tumour that required a surgery to remove her entire nose. In the summer of 2021, Katie Froggatt began to come down with what she assumed was a common cold but as the weeks passed she found herself struggling to breathe at all.
To her and her husband Steven's horror, a cancerous growth began forming inside her nose and worsened to the point it was 'coming out of her nose, like a sausage out of her nostril'. The couple were given the devastating news that Katie had a tumour which would require a horrific operation to remove her nose to increase her chances of survival, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Despite surgeons removing the 39-year-old's entire nose, the hair stylist has been told she does not have long left with her partner of 14 years and her two-year-old daughter, Myla. Steven told the MEN: “She was misdiagnosed - the doctors thought it was sinusitis and she was prescribed medications for that.
"Nothing improved so we went private, Katie’s breathing got worse to the point where she couldn’t really breathe at all.” A private doctor believed it was polyps but the problem only continued to grow.
Steven continued: “This tumour continued to grow until it was coming out of her nose - it was like a sausage was coming out of her nostril, right over her top lip." The couple decided to go to A&E where two nurses were advised to head to a hospital in Aintree for investigations into suspected cancer.
Katie underwent two operations at the beginning of 2022 and talk began of possibly removing her nose in a complex procedure to attempt to permanently remove the tumour. Doctors took skin from Katie's wrist, veins from her arms to get blood to the skin around the new nose ad a bone from her rib to help reconstruct her nose.
The brutal surgery left nerve damage in her face and caused her face to sag for much of the remainder of the year which was then followed by gruelling radiotherapy. Things were looking up and Katie was able to enjoy her first night out in months at her friend's wedding as a bridesmaid in September 2022.
However, the couple were faced with a devastating shock as Katie's nose began to bleed again and they learned that the tumour had returned despite the extensive surgery to keep it at bay. The tumour was removed but another growth appeared within days in Katie's nose.
The 39-year-old was fast tracked for surgery and had another procedure done on December 23 in the midst of the first wave of nursing strikes. NHS staff said that if she had not been in the operating theatre by January, she would have lost her eye.
After hoping for more nose reconstruction similar to the first surgery, this time surgeons had to take away Katie's whole nose. Steven said: "It was very gruesome. There was extensive damage, Katie needed a skin graft, all her eye is still a mess."
The family were then told in the New Year that Katie's cancer had tragically spread to her lung and was now at stage four but that removing her lung would substantially affect her quality of life. The general life expectancy for cancer of this nature is estimated to be a 'year or two' but the couple decided to not find out Katie's specific lifespan.
The family are trying to pursue alternative treatments to keep Katie alive for as long as possible but these can come in at a cost in excess of £1000 a week. Steven said his wife is 'desperate to see 40' and to see as much of their two-year-old daughter's life as possible.
Katie is currently having intensive radiotherapy and immunotherapy while she waits for a prosthetic nose. Steven says they are remaining 'positive' and make the most of 'what time they've got now' but he finds it very difficult to 'think about the future right now'.
He said: "My eyes water fearing I’m going to lose her and thinking about being a single dad, it’s scary. But then I decided to change my thinking. I can’t help this and I can’t let the anxiety take control.”
He added: "Anything I can do to support Katie and improve her quality of life for as long as possible I’m going to do."
The fundraiser for Katie has already raised more than £24,000. If you would like to donate, head to the GoFundMe.
