Dying Edinburgh mum diagnosed with cancer FIVE times launches appeal for 'last option' treatment

Fundraiser for vital treatment set up after fifth diagnosis

A dying mother who has been diagnosed with life-threatening cancer five times has launched a desperate fundraising appeal for vital treatment not widely available on the NHS.

Melanie Aghanya lives in Duddingston with her three children Daisy, 17, Grace, ten, and nine-year-old Zoba.

The 46-year-old’s “long” and “harrowing” fight with cancer which has included radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and ten operations, has been ultimately unsuccessful.

Melanie Aghanya, pictured with her three children, Daisy, 17, Grace, 10 and Zoba, nine, has been battling cancer for nine years.

Melanie is now fundraising £10,000 for a “last option” treatment in London which will hopefully get rid of the four areas of cancer in her underarms.

She was only 37 when her “whole world collapsed around her” after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2011.

In January of the following year, Melanie underwent an operation at the Western General hospital and endured 30 days of radiotherapy.

Then in December 2012 she her had ovaries removed to reduce the chance of a recurrence.

Melanie said: “This plunged me into menopause at 37, I had hot flushes, night sweats, aching joints, low mood, insomnia, dry skin, weight increase and fluid retention. It sucked, but if it was between that and cancer it was worth it.”

Busy home life

Life carried on normally for two months, with a busy home life looking after her children.

However, in February 2013 a radiographer found a cancerous lump in her armpit and Melanie had full lymph node removal surgery the following month.

She said: “The shock and fear seemed more acute this time, the optimism of being cancer-free had been ripped from me.”

Melanie’s recovery from surgery was difficult when she attempted to juggle two young children “clambering over me every day” and a ten-year-old who had to be driven to and from school.

She said: “I had a house to run, meals to cook and after-school activities to drive to, but I kept going, I had to for my children.”

During 2013 and 2014 Melanie had a series of operations to reconstruct her breasts, revealing: “Each time was gruelling, with pain and restricted movement becoming the norm for me.”

But these years also contained some happy news with Melanie’s long-term partner proposing to her on her 40th birthday in summer 2013.

The pair tied the knot in June 2014 and Melanie said the wedding was a “perfect day” as she celebrated being cancer-free for 15 months.

'Scared'

However, the marriage was turbulent and the pair separated – and in April 2017, Melanie began to experience pain in her sternum.

An ultrasound showed a growth, not in her sternum, but in her breast, her cancer was back and was confirmed to be grade three aggressive and Melanie started chemotherapy in April 2018.

She said: “This scared me more than any of my other diagnoses. I had researched chemo extensively after my first diagnosis and decided it was not worth the horrendous side effects. But now my mortality was staring me in the face and the fear of leaving my children without a mother was choking me.”

In December 2019, the family dealt another devastating blow after a further four areas of cancer were found in her underarms.

On January 16, 2020, Melanie had her tenth surgery in eight years and said: “I am tired, scarred from all the surgery, worn down and so scared that cancer is going to kill me.”

Melanie is now fundraising cash to allow her to attend the Care Oncology Clinic in London which offers alternative treatment for aggressive forms of cancer.

To donate visit HERE.