Bourne mum Tanya Pepper starts second round of cancer treatment thanks to community donations
A mum whose life depends on a cancer drug unavailable on the NHS has expressed pressed her gratitude as she begins ‘round two’ of treatment.
Tanya Pepper, 44, used family savings to pay for the first course of nelarabine chemotherapy but needed nearly £30,000 to pay for the second. It is only after this that she will know if the drug has worked.
A fundraising page was set up at tinyurl.com/TanyaPepper leading to donations of £13,500 so far, which has taken a huge amount of financial pressure off Tanya and her husband, David, an agricultural consultant.
The couple, who live in Southfields, Bourne, have teenage children Andrew and Mary at Bourne Grammar School.
Thanking those who have supported her and her family, Tanya said: “After numerous scans and investigations and a rather stressful time, Professor Gribben [a cancer specialist based in London] confirmed that I showed a positive response to treatment.
“I am going to start the second stage of treatment in the next two weeks.
“NHS doctors gave me a life expectancy of three to six months at the end of August. Without nelarabine, I would have been busy dying by now.
“I want other people to see how important it is not to give up, and seek a second opinion. My cancer journey is still far from the finish, but I am looking forward to the future with more hope.”
The chemotherapy drug nelarabine is not prescribed on the NHS but can be administered privately. It is Tanya’s greatest hope of staying alive and would need to be teamed with a bone marrow transplant.
NHS doctors are still involved in her treatment for a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, which was first diagnosed three years ago.
Initial chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant on the NHS seemed to have worked, but in August last year she was told the cancer had invaded her spine and brain, and that the NHS had no further treatments beyond palliative care.
Tanya received the first course of nelarabine in December.
People, groups and businesses can make a donation to support her treatment at tinyurl.com/TanyaPepper
