Beauly mum's cancer cash treatment appeal
A MOTHER-of-two from Beauly has made an appeal for help to fund potentially life-saving cancer treatment.
Roz Paterson (52) was diagnosed last summer with large diffuse B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of blood cancer, and has so far undergone four rounds of chemotherapy without success.
She is now pinning her hopes on a procedure called Car-T cell therapy which has been successful for others with her type of cancer.
“When I found it I thought, this is the one for me,” she said.
Not yet available in Scotland, however, Mrs Paterson is looking to the USA for self-funded options.
The treatment costs around $700,000 and she is seeking £500,000 to cover the cost of the drug and the two months she will have to stay in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Stressing the urgency of her appeal she said: “My consultants say my life expectancy is anywhere from weeks to months.
“Speed is of the essence.”
Mrs Paterson has a GoFundMe page where she has already raised more than £19,000, providing “a real injection of hope.”
She added: “That’s the beauty of crowd-funding – you’re not asking one person for £500,000, you’re asking 50,000 people for a tenner”.
A former journalist, Mrs Paterson gave up work after having daughter Thea (13) and son David (10) and said: “It’s a decision I’m so glad of now, as time is so precious.”
Planning to take them and husband Malcolm (62) with her to the US she added: “I am pretty desperate to stay alive. I have two young children and, like any mother, I want to see them grow up. I want to be there to give them love and support, and to hold my grandchildren.”
Mrs Paterson will begin the treatment as soon as possible.
“I’ve made contact with the hospital and I have started organising having my medical records sent over there,” she said.
“I just need to wait until I can afford to pay the minimum amount the hospital will accept to begin the treatment and see where it goes from there.”
Mrs Paterson’s fundraising page is at: www.gofundme.com/lifesaving-treatment-for-roz
