Young mum given just six months to live insists 'everything will be fine'
A brave mum-of-three has vowed to "defy the odds" after being told she only has six months to live due to a deadly cancer diagnosis.
Jenna Wareing, 33,was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in September 2022 and despite undergoing tough treatments, the cancer has now spread to her liver. The woman, however, refuses to let this news defeat her, stating: "I want to defy the odds and I will, and I believe that.
"I will be in control of my living and how I live. I'm not going to let cancer control how I live my life. I don't want to be at home in bed, unable to do things. I want to do everything I possibly can to see my kids grow up."
She started hormone therapy injections hoping it would slow down the cancer's progress but suffered from severe side effects. She said: "I had an inflamed liver, diaphragm and stomach. I'd lost nearly a stone in three weeks. Basically, the treatment is not working. I found out only last week. They offered me more chemotherapy - but if I didn't take any treatment, the prognosis would have been four to six months.
Jenna is currently taking a break from treatment as she decides what is best for her and her family. She told the LiverpoolECHO: "I feel so weak. With all the treatment I've had, I wanted to take some time out with my family to decide what's right for us and for me. I've been looking into alternative ways that I can support my body while fighting.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
"I will be proactive in my fight, but I haven't made a decision about what that looks like yet." Despite her diagnosis, Jenna managed to organise a charity night at Aintree Racecourse this month. The funds raised will go towards private care at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, with any leftover money going into a trust fund for her three kids.
She said: "I'm so lucky because I have so much support and all my family and friends are around me. I know that whatever decision I make, things will be fine. I've got no worries about what will happen to my children. I know they will always be taken care of."
She also thanked the Liverpool-based charity LARKS, the Marina Dalglish Appeal, which supports women with breast cancer, reports the Liverpool Echo. She said: "You're around people who are in the same mental and emotional state as yourself. No matter what group you're in, there's that support there. They understand the effects of what treatment can do; they have that experience of how they feel, how they look.
"It's hard for women who struggle with body image, losing your hair. Your features change so much during a cancer battle and that's hard on a woman. Going to the support group at LARKS I met two of my closest friends who are like family. It's somewhere that every woman who faces breast cancer should go to, because it's so positive. All we do is laugh. It's not a group where you go and it's doom and gloom. It's wild and carefree and it shows you what true living is."
On November 12, 50 of Jenna's friends and former fellow students from the Class of 2006 at Notre Dame Catholic College, in Everton, will be walking 19 miles to Southport to raise money for her appeal. To find out more about the walk, or to make a donation click here.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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