Help Arlene in her fight with the big C

Arlene Mitchell was recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer at University Hospitals Monklands after months of suffering extreme pain.

The tumour has also spread to surrounding muscle tissue and her lymph gland, last month she was given the devastating news it is inoperable and her only hope is five weeks of strong radiotherapy for five days a week.

She will then have to wait eight weeks to see if it has shrunk the tumour or stopped the spread.

Her friend Alison Ogilvie said: “Arlene is a mother of two young boys and none of us can even begin to comprehend what this is like for them.

“She was working in a nursery in Bishopbriggs and loved working with children who all adored her, but has been off the last month and will now be unable to return to work due to the high levels of pain she is in and provide for her boys.

“She is a very loving mum, partner, daughter, sister, auntie, niece, cousin and close friend to so many and everyone wants to help make life easier for her and her boys.

“We are raising funds to help assist Arlene with her daily expenses and for the treatment that she will undergo in her battle against the big C, including the potential to consider alternative treatment not available on the NHS.

“There are two treatments that Arlene could go for to complement the conventional treatments .

“The first would be to have high levels of oxygen in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which can cost anything from £150-1000 a session, so it would likely be thousands of pounds to have a course of treatment.

“The other is immunotherapy – which is currently only being offered to some people who are invited onto clinical trials – but this too is a very expensive treatment and would most likely mean travelling to the United States of America or Europe to receive this and then we would have to cover travel costs too.”

A crowdfunding page ‘Please help Arlene fight the big C’ has been set up which has raised nearly £5000 of a £10,000 target so far ... if you would like to make a donation visit www.gofundme.com/mwhht-fighting-the-big-c

A fundraising event is currently being planned to take place in January 2019 at the New Town Hall in Cumbernauld.

Anyone who wishes to be notified when the date is confirmed, would like to donate auction/raffle items , make a donation or have their company advertised on the night should email [email protected].