A mum who has terminal cancer is determined to stick around "for as long as I can" to raise money and make memories to cherish the time she has left with her young son.
Jenna Loughran from Coventy got the heartbreaking terminal diagnosis of Stage 4 Triple Negative Breast Cancer in May this year.
The cancer is so advanced that there is no cure and any future treatment will be about prolonging her life, reports Coventry Live.
The devastating diagnosis also means three-year-old Theo will have only a short time to spend with his mummy.
"After a battle with infertility and two rounds of IVF it is so cruel that I won’t be around to see him grow up," Jenna said. "My heart breaks for him."
"I want him to remember me and the times we spent together. I want him to be proud of his Mummy and know I did everything I could to be around for as long as I can."
The former Cardinal Wiseman School student wants to take Theo on as many trips and journeys he will remember for his lifetime.
But Jenna is unable to work and what little money she does have is spent on supplements and visits to and from the hospital.
The 37-year-old has now launched a Gofundme page in the hope of raising enough money to enable her to "make as many memories for Theo as I can". "I wish I didn’t have to ask," Jenna writes, "but if you could consider donating to my Gofundme I would really appreciate it.
"Please feel free to share. I have a lifetime of memories still to make." In December 2020 after finding a lump in the shower, Jenna was diagnosed with Stage 3 TNBC.
She undertook 15 rounds of IV chemotherapy, a single mastectomy with full node clearance, three weeks of radiotherapy and six months of oral chemotherapy. In February she finished 14 months of active treatment.
"I began trying to put my life back together and make plans for the future including starting a course to become a Teaching Assistant," Jenna said. But her best-laid plans were soon left in tatters when at the end of March a routine CT scan showed the cancer had returned to two lymph nodes in her chest.
"I was sent for a full-body PET scan which confirmed the cancer was back and had spread not only to my lymph nodes which would be potentially curable but more devastatingly (and quite extensively) to the bone marrow in my spine," Jenna said. "I was now classed as Stage 4. Incurable."
Jenna explored clinical trials in London, but problems with her liver closed off that potential avenue. A scan this month should reveal whether the cancer has moved into her liver.
Jenna added: "I only had a partial response to chemotherapy the first time round which as this is my only lifeline is very scary. I have now begun Chemotherapy again at my local hospital.
"I am actually writing this whilst having my second infusion under isolation as I also tested positive for covid just before my start date. Chemo and covid are not fun!" When she's not in hospital Jenna has every intention of spoiling Theo "my world' rotten.
Visit Jenna's Gofundme page here.
