Mother with cancer forced to have termination

A woman diagnosed with cancer faced with the agonising choice of terminating her second child or leaving her firstborn without a mother.

Helen Nutter was 14 weeks pregnant and about to set off on a family holiday with husband Matt and son Louie, 3, when they were given the bad news.

The 32-year-old, from Upton, Wirral, was taking antibiotics for a cough but when it became persistent she was sent for tests.

The non-smoker discovered she had small cell lung cancer. Medics then told the couple a termination was Helen’s only option to allow them to give her the chemotherapy she urgently needed.

Matt says they ‘were devastated but we had to do what we had to do’.

And yet the treatment hasn’t worked and British doctors have said there is nothing more they can do for her.

Helen Nutter, pictured here with her husband Matt and their son Louie, had a termination to have chemotherapy in her battle to stay alive for her family

THE SYMPTOMS OF LUNG CANCER

Symptoms of lung cancer develop as the condition progresses and there are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages.

The main symptoms are:

A cough that doesn’t go away after two or three weeks
A long-standing cough that gets worse
Persistent chest infections
Coughing up blood
An ache or pain when breathing or coughing
Persistent breathlessness
Persistent tiredness or lack of energy
Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss

Less common symptoms of lung cancer include:

Changes in the appearance of your fingers, such as becoming more curved or their ends becoming larger (this is known as finger clubbing)
A high temperature (fever) of 38C (100.4F) or above
Difficulty swallowing or pain when swallowing
Wheezing
A hoarse voice
Swelling of your face or neck
Persistent chest or shoulder pain

Source: NHS Choices

She has now made the decision to seek treatment abroad and is flying to Germany on Sunday for immunotherapy treatment not available on the NHS.

‘With her being pregnant they didn’t want to offer her chemotherapy until she had a termination or until she was 20 weeks, so that would have been six weeks away,’ said Matt, 35.

‘It was horrendous. We’d been really happy, we had a two-year-old and we were looking forward to having another, but unfortunately we had to make that decision.

‘The doctor that we spoke to was straight to the point. She said you won’t see your pregnancy out if you don’t have a termination.

‘We talked to the other doctors and specialist oncologists and they were all advising the same thing.’

‘She felt tired but she was pregnant’

Doctors initially suspected Helen, a cognitive behavioural therapist, had a blood clot when she sought advice.

Matt said: ‘Her cough didn’t clear up and we were due to go on holiday on the Monday, so on the Sunday afternoon she went to the walk-in centre to get more antibiotics.

‘The doctor was a bit concerned it could be a blood clot so he sent her for tests and an x-ray.

‘They found there was fluid on her lungs so they kept her in and did more tests, and that’s when things started.

‘Helen has never smoked – she’s never touched a cigarette – and has always eaten really well. It came completely out of nowhere.

‘She’d felt tired for a few weeks and a bit sick but she was pregnant so everyone put it down to that.’

More bad news

After four cycles of chemotherapy, Helen researched alternative ways of fighting the incurable condition, including supplements and changing her diet.

Matt said their little boy Louie was ‘literally her life’ and that she was battling to get more time to spend with him.

He said: ‘Every child needs their mum. I’m his dad and I’m with him but he needs his mum.

‘Everything was holding steady and looking quite good. Helen was feeling really good up until recently, then things started to deteriorate.

‘Her back was a little bit sore but we put that down to just having a bad back.

‘She went for a routine CT scan and they called us back quite quickly to say “there’s progression close to your spine, you need to get in and have some radiotherapy, which she’s now had.

‘Germany has always been a possibility, it’s been in our minds and we’ve now decided to go there for the specialist treatments they offer there.’

Fundraising appeal

A small amount of money raised from previous fundraising and help from relatives has enabled Helen to make the trip to Germany –but she is likely to need further visits.

Matt, a paintsprayer for Stagecoach, said she is a private person and was embarrassed to appeal for help – but her goal was to stay alive for Louie.

He said: ‘We’ve managed to get the money to go but when she gets there there may be other costs. It’s not just going to be the one trip.

‘We’ve seen how generous people are. It’s been shared on Facebook and even people we’ve never met in our lives have donated and sent lovely messages.

Helen is on of around 44,500 people who are diagnosed with lung cancer every year in the UK.

The treatment in Germany is likely to cost more than £10,000. To help Helen’s cause please visit here to donate.

WHAT IS IMMUNOTHERAPY?

Immunotherapy, hailed as a global medical breakthrough, is a new therapy that kills cancer cells by boosting the body’s immune system.

Only between 1 per cent and 4 per cent of advanced lung cancer patients are alive five years after they are diagnosed.

But a study at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, found 16 per cent survived for four years and ten months after using a type of immunotherapy drug called Nivolumab.

Last month, it was announced that this life-extending medication – which was denied to restaurant critic AA Gill – will finally been made available on the NHS.

However, Nivolumab will only initially be offered to 1,300 patients with advanced lung cancer after it was approved by Nice, the drugs rationing body.

The drug will initially be paid for by the Cancer Drugs Fund, a pot of money set aside for treatments which aren’t yet routinely available. Its manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to offer it at a discounted price.

AA Gill worked for the Sunday Times and died from lung cancer last December, aged 62. In his final column, he revealed that his doctor had wanted to offer him Nivolumab but couldn’t because it wasn’t available on the NHS.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk