VIDEO: Swansea Mum Fundraising To Pay For Private Cancer Treatment
When Ailsa Guard was diagnosed with breast cancer back in February, she thought her treatment would start within weeks.
Last updated 28th Apr 2022
Last November she started to feel tired and thought she had Covid. A lump suddenly appeared in her armpit. On the 15th of December she had a scan and was told lots of people were coming in with lumps because of the virus.
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"They looked at it and said 'it looks like it's probably Covid. Do you feel any more tired than usual?' I was like, 'no, I feel OK.'
She was told to return for another appointment in four to six weeks. In that time the lump had got bigger. Ailsa tried to switch her appointment to be seen sooner. But she could not get one until the 2nd of February. On that date she had a biopsy.
The 7th of February 2022, Ailsa's world fell apart. The phone rang, it was her GP and she was told she had breast cancer. "As you can imagine, I was absolutely in pieces. That's when it all sort of hit home. The shock of thinking you've got cancer, I thought I would be seen very quickly. Sadly that is not the case."
Ailsa was referred to the breast cancer clinic at Singleton Hospital and was told if she did not hear anything from the clinic within two weeks, she was to call her GP back. She wanted to be seen as quickly as possible so she paid privately. Her family helped her cover the cost because she lost her job back in January. Her mammogram scan at Spire in Cardiff, cost six hundred pounds. The Spire team then wrote to Swansea breast clinic which speeded up the process.
She has nothing but praise for the staff at the breast clinic at Singleton Hospital telling us 'they've been brilliant.' She had another biopsy, CT and MRI scans and was scheduled for a mastectomy and lymph nodes to be removed on the 30th of March. Sadly a further scan revealed the cancer had spread to her neck and she was told she needed chemotherapy first.
Ailsa has her first appointment with her oncologist on May the 10th and fears that it will be too late because it can take a few more weeks before chemotherapy begins. She is fundraising in a bid to get private treatment as soon as possible.
She says the whole situation is very stressful. She is taking medication to calm her down as she suffers from anxiety attacks telling us; "I found myself not only trying to get my head around that I have cancer and I could die at any moment, but I am now trying to spend my days fighting to get seen and get treatment. Which nobody should be going through."
"It's already spread. It's gone from a breast to my lymph nodes and my armpit and now it's in my neck. It's spreading. I don't feel great, but I feel as if I can fight this at the minute. I'm just scared that has times running out. My chances of fighting it and getting through chemo are limiting daily hour by hour really and I just can't believe I'm in this situation to be honest, that I'm fighting to get basic, things to keep me alive."
Ailsa's friends have set up a Go Fund Me page to help her cover the cost of private chemotherapy treatment. They have raised almost five thousands pounds so far but it can cost around eighty thousand pounds.
Due to patient confidentiality Ailsa gave Swansea Bay University Health Board permission for them to issue a response to our request for a statement in relation to her case. A spokesperson told us: "We understand what a distressing time this is and we apologise that the delay to Ms Guard’s wait for treatment has made it even more upsetting.
"The health board aims to provide high-quality, timely cancer care, and our dedicated staff work incredibly hard to achieve this. This is a complex and evolving case, which has required some additional diagnostic tests.
"We have also needed to switch from a planned surgery to a previously unplanned treatment, chemotherapy, at short notice. The time it has taken for a subsequent appointment to discuss chemotherapy is longer than any of us would want.
"The date has been brought forward once and if it is at all possible to bring it even further forward, we will of course do so. In the meantime, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss Ms Guard’s concerns with her directly."
Earlier this week Welsh Government set out new plans to help the NHS recover from the pandemic, with a particular focus on cancer care.
A spokesperson told us: "We are unable to comment on an individual’s medical care. We are sorry to hear about this case and send Ms Guard and her family our best wishes.
“The NHS is working hard to see as many people as possible and cancer waiting time performance improved in February.”