Mum, 23, who had three appointments cancelled due to Covid is told over ZOOM she has cancer - ReadSector

A care worker who had three vital medical appoointments cancelled due to Covid was told by doctors she had cancer over Zoom.

Kimberley Eccles’s aggressive cancer has now spread and the mum-of-one has been told she only has six months to live.

The 23-year-old has been diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare tissue disease her doctors tell her is found in only 1% of the adult population.

She was told the devastating news in August over an online video call with her doctors while her shocked seven-year-old daughter looked on.

Kimberley Eccles, 23, (pictured left with bricklayer partner Darren Aldred, 24) was told she had cancer over a Zoom call with her doctor in August after three appointments were cancelled due to Covid

Her aggressive cancer has now spread from the tumour in her cheek and the mum-of-one, from Leyland, Lancashire, has been told she only has six months to live

‘I have been given a one per cent chance of survival and told I have around six months to live,’ Kimberley told The Sun.

‘I had my daughter at home when I took the video call and was so shocked I couldn’t speak.

‘I can’t help thinking how different it might have been if there had been no pandemic and my cancer had been diagnosed earlier.

‘There must be many other cancer patients in the same position as me now.’

Kimberley from Leyland, Lancashire, has been told by her doctors that she should ‘make memories’ with her daughter Maya and bricklayer partner Darren Aldred, 24, and draw up a bucket list as her cancer is a ‘ticking timebomb’.

But she intends to keep on fighting and is raising money to travel to America for alternative treatment.

Kimberley from Leyland, Lancashire, has been told by her doctors that she should ‘make memories’ with her daughter Maya and draw up a bucket list as her cancer is a ‘ticking timebomb’

But instead she is fundraising to go to America to get alternative treatments not available in the UK. She is also undergoing major surgery in the UK on Monday to remove the tumour from her cheek and reconstruct her face using bones from her leg

Rhabdomyosarcoma: A rare form of cancer that develops in soft tissues

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare type of sarcoma cancer. It is an aggressive and highly malignant form of cancer.

Sarcomas are cancers that develop in the connective tissues of the body, such as muscle, fat, nerves, blood vessels, bone and cartilage.

The face is a common place to find this type of cancer, as is the soft tissue in the bladder, arms and legs.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is more common in children and teenagers than in adults.

And also, for unknown reasons, is more common in men than women.

Up to 60 new Rhabdomyosarcoma cases are dianogsed each year in the UK.

The treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma depends on the patient, and treatment usually startes with a course of chemotherpay.

But as sarcomas are rare cancers, patients are typically referred to a specialist unit for treatment.

Source: Macmillan Cancer Support

‘But I can’t stop at this, I can’t just accept that,’ she wrote on her fundraising page.

‘I don’t want to write a bucket list, I want to be around to watch my girl grow up, marry the man of my dreams and live a healthy life.’

Kimberley initially thought she was suffering from a mouth ulcer after noticing a small growth on her cheek in June last year.

But when it grew she was booked in for a consultation, biopsy and MRI scan earlier this year. But her appoinments coincided with the start of lockdown and were cancelled amid the growing coronavirus threat.

She spent six months in agony while the tumour grew in her left cheek.

‘I was a normal typical mum, working full time as a carer, taking care of family life at home and suddenly everything just completely changed for me and my family,’ she recalls.

Children’s home carer Kimberley collapsed at work and was rushed to hospital.

‘My tumour was/is aggressive and once spread will be completely incurable. The Doctor described this as a ticking bomb and once it goes off there isn’t any going back,’ she adds.

Kimberley is due to have an operation to remove the tumour in her cheek on Monday after chemotherapy sessions at the Royal Preston hospital and Blackburn hospital failed to shrink it.

Her cheek will be rebuilt during 12 hour reconstructive surgery using bones and tissue from her leg.

Once she has recovered, she hopes to travel to America for treatments not available in the UK.

Kimberleys cheek will be rebuilt during 12 hour reconstructive surgery using bones and tissue from her leg after chemotherapy sessions at the Royal Preston hospital and Blackburn hospital failed to shrink the tumour

She said: ‘So it’s clear that surgery has to happen regardless, we simply cannot risk waiting any longer on getting this tumour out of me.

‘My whole cheek will be removed, along with the bones surrounding which will then be replaced by bone and tissue out of my leg. My face will be left paralysed.

‘The surgeon has made it very clear to us that he cannot and will not give us even a 1% chance of this actually working but he says this is our best shot.

‘The doctor tells us that my cancer is unique in many ways and, where a personalised treatment plan would usually be put into place, this just cannot be done for me. It is all trial and error.

‘The doctors that I am being assessed by have never dealt with a patient like me in their whole work experience.

‘Knowing there are people out there that can help me and the only thing in the way is money knocks me sick.’

Kimberley’s fundraiser here has so far raised £12,000 of her £50,000 goal.