Mend Maddie’s Mummy

Our amazing friend Nicola, was only 29 when she was diagnosed in December 2012 with non Hodgkins lymphoma.

She has fought the last 10 months amazingly, with a smile on her face and with resilience and positivity in her heart, however, despite 6 months of continuous chemotherapy and trial drugs, her tumour continues to grow and has now encroached on her heart and lungs. The treatment required is now convoluted and potentially extremely expensive.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Nicola and her family, its important to know a little of the McCormick fighting spirit and the amazing family she has helped to create. Nicola met Richard at University where they were both studying Nursing, they got engaged, then married in 2008 and almost immediately started what they knew was going to be the long process of having a baby. Why would this be a long process? Because in a cruel twist of fate, Richard himself is a survivor of Leukemia TWICE before the age of 18! Luckily on their 2nd round of IUI, they became pregnant and in December 2009, welcomed a beautiful blue eyed baby girl into the world, and the McCormicks became 3!

Fast forward 3 years and Nicola is a successful neo-natal nurse, Richard is a successful Oncology Research Nurse and Madeline is flourishing. Despite five unsuccessful attempts to give Madeline a baby brother or sister, they are a normal happy family. It is only when Nicola feels her heart fluttering during a nursing shift that she checks her heart beat and finds it to be over 200 BPM and she goes to A&E. After a quick scan, the Dr's send for Richard and they are told there is a mass in her chest. Fast forward further and Nicola is diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma and a course of steroids and then Chemotherapy is prescribed. At this point there was an 80% survival rate.

They are now at the stage where the chemo has killed all but the most resilient of cells, but it is these cells which are the most aggressive and hardest to kill. It is also these cells which have multiplied massively and her tumour has grown despite a second round of stronger chemotherapy. The only option Nicola's consultants are now suggesting is 4 weeks of radiotherapy to help them gain time to submit an application for a trial drug and then IF she gets this, she will then need a donor Stem Cell transplant (If you aren't on the donor register, please please do this now www.anthonynolan.org). This is Nicola's only option. The big "IF" is whether she will get funding approval for the trial drug. If she doesn't, she will need EVERYONE's help to raise £28,000 for this medication.
If she should be so lucky as to get the funding for the drugs she need, any funds raised will be used to financially support the McCormicks as, following the above treatment, Nicola may not be able to return work at least for another year.

The smallest donation WILL make a difference.