weneedyounow.com
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PART ONE- HIGH QUALITY - LOW QUALITY
My beautiful Su outside her old school.
My name is David Woodley and I am 31 years old. I am a teacher in Bridgwater, Somerset and have been working in my school for nearly seven years. Over four years ago, I met Su who is 47. She had just begun to work in our school as a teaching assistant.
After a few months of chatting and getting to know each other, we began a relationship, despite the 'age gap' - this simply did not matter to us. We fell deeply in love.
In April 2005, we bought a house together and the four of us have happily lived here in Bridgwater ever since: Su, myself, Joshua and Bethany. The children are from Su's 11-year marriage which didn't work out.
We are an extremely close unit. Since Su and I began our relationship, the children have got to know, trust and love me as their step-father. Similarly, my love for them has grown immensely since 2002 and I care for them as much as I do for Su. They all mean the absolute world to me and I cannot imagine life without them.
The four of us in happier times.
Our story takes place over a number of months.
In August 2005, Su began to tell me of acute pains she was feeling in her abdomen. They became very painful and after a few days we decided that she needed to seek medical advice. Her doctor said that he suspected gall stones. She was given an ultra-sound scan and none were found. But something else was spotted. There were lesions on her liver.
Coincidentally, Su was also suffering from some severe eczema on her ankle and a blood sample was taken as the doctor said he thought she may have a form of impetigo. When the results were returned for her blood, the doctor was very concerned to observe that Su had high levels in two areas. He said that this could mean she was suffering from 'anything from hepatitis to cancer'.
Su was then sent for a colonic probe. When she had returned from her examination, we were taken into a small room and told that a malignant tumour has been found. This was the terrible moment that the C-word was used for the first time - cancer.
Josh on his 12th birthday.
She was then given a full coloscopy and no further tumours were found in her colon or bowel. The letter from the specialist can be seen by clicking here in lower quality (dial-up) or here in higher quality (broadband).
An MRI scan was administered and then a CT scan which examined her internal organs. We were relieved to discover that no other part of her body had anything wrong. But the lesions on her liver remained a mystery.
A biopsy was taken from her liver and the results showed that the piece taken was normal. The medical staff were mystified. They assumed (rightly) that they had not probed deeply enough and had taken their sample from the surface of the organ. A further biopsy was taken, this time much deeper, and the results were different. The liver was infected with a number of malignant tumours.
On 19th February 2006, we had our first meeting with Su's oncologist (cancer specialist) in Yeovil. It was a day I shall never forget. When we sat down with him, I could immediately tell that the news we were about to hear was not good. He told us that although the scans had caused confusion and disagreement, his team were now 100% sure that the liver was badly infected with cancer. He stated that 90% of the organ contained tumours.
The oncologist went on to say that we were now in a very serious situation. He told us that this may well turn into a case of keeping Su alive for as long as possible, rather than curing her.
Su and I were absolutely devastated.
Bethany and Dave.
Our oncologist then said there was a new drug that would be very beneficial to Su. It was called Avastin and worked by enhancing standard chemotherapy. Avastin works by sticking to the cancer cells and attracting the medication used in chemo to them, thereby making the bog-standard chemo treatment more efficient. It is also an anti-body and once it is 'stuck' to the cancer cells, the body will try to reject them. The treatment has a dual effect. However, as it is a very new drug, it is not yet available on the NHS as it has not yet been trialled and approved for use, but is available privately.
Over the next few days, I did a bit of research on the net and discovered that the survival rates for liver cancer treated with standard chemotherapy were extremely low. I then did some reading about this new 'wonder-drug'. I discovered that, at the very least, it could stop the growth of the cancer and extend Su's life by a substantial amount - some patients who were told 2 or 3 years ago that they had weeks to live, are still with us today.
Su and I became convinced that this was our only hope and so we looked into the costs. We were stunned to learn that the treatment will cost around £44,000.
Su with her mum (Julie) and sister (Jackie)
Our families rallied around, scraping whatever money they could find, but it wasn’t enough.
I decided to set up this website to raise some funds. I did not expect to get more than £1000, but within hours of the site ‘going live’, we had received over £2000 in donations.
Along with fundraising events held locally, charity auctions and sponsored events, we have raised £44000 for Su’s ongoing treatment. This gave us incredible hope and belief.
In June 2006, I proposed to Su and she accepted. We were married on 7th April 2007.
Su is my wife, my world, the person I worship more than any other, my closest friend and, above all, the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Su is a mum to Joshua and Bethany. The children adore her with all their heart.
If it were not for you, we would not have stood a chance.
My darling Su is still with us, my wife, Josh and Beth’s mum. That is something we can never repay you all for.
We needed you now and you were there. Thank you so so much.