Fundraising is ongoing to help raise £30,000 to give lifesaving treatment to mum of three Penny.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up by her children to help fund this promising treatment.
The money raised will help Penny with her fight to live. The medical treatment she seeks in Germany costs, £17,500 for just one dose, then £9,000 every 6 months. Along with all other alternative therapies that she will have to use, it creates a monthly family outgoing of over £3,000.
Penny said, “The £30,000 doesn’t get me a lot, but it’s a start. Its for a Dendritic cell therapy treatment. The treatment is injected to help your immune system to help fight the cancer cells. But because I’ve got a lot of hard tumours, it doesn’t work very well on its own, I would maybe need to use chemo and radiotherapy too. But I’ve had them before and they don’t work for me.
“This is a onetime opportunity and with the money that’s being raised I have to get it right.”
In February 2019 Penny Henderson, 46, was diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of cancer in her nasal cavity. In April that same year, Penny underwent an operation to remove this tumour and she has now been left with a collapsing nose. After combines treatments of chemo and radiotherapy, by October 2019, Penny had been told her cancer had all gone. However, this news was short lived, as 12 weeks later, cancer was shown again and it had spread to her pelvis, rib and neck. In January of 2020 Penny, her husband Scott and children, Holly,19, Ryan,18, and Amber,16, were all told by the oncology team that there was no more treatment left that could be given.
Penny said,” We were all told that I would definitely be dead within the year, and this was in January 2020, they said 100% I wasn’t getting through the year. But for 2 years I kept myself alive and my cancer contained.”
Penny did this by using an array of alternative therapies such as probiotics, different medical oils, and Essiac. These different none hospitalized therapies have prolonged Penny’s life. However, after all her miraculous work keeping herself alive, in August 2021, Penny had an operation to help her breathe. Penny then became very ill, developing a chest infection and shingles, which required lots of strong medication. Then in a scan done in December her cancer had spread, and new tumours were now being shown inn her liver, spine, leg and arm.
PENNY JOURNEY by Eva Shana
“It’s very hard, because you just want to live, I don’t want to die, I’m not ready to die. I definitely think that I can do it with all the right therapy, because if I’ve done it before why can’t I do it again. I just need to get it right; I can’t go down the wrong path.” Said Penny.
Whilst undergoing her battle, Penny continued to go to work when she was well enough, and throughout lockdown collected food from supermarkets and donations and gave it to local schools and foodbanks. With everything Penny was going through her first thought was still to be thinking of others, and what she could do to help.
“When I’m not hurting, my day is the same as any normal mum, I try to keep everything as normal as possible and that’s how I like it.” Said Penny,” I don’t sit in the corner crying, because I’m not dead yet. I’m not even dying, and it may never happen. Your mind needs to be 100% in it, or you will lose your battle.”
Holly, Penny’s eldest daughter said,” It’s difficult because you don’t really think about it much, but its just normal life now and its not something we all try to focus on. It can be very up and down.”
All cancer wants to do is survive in the body, and it hides from your immune system, so with every cancer fight, time is of the essence. The money raised will help Penny and her family in the next stage of her fight.
All donations to help Penny can be made on her GoFundMe page
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