My sister Netha Islam is a beloved daughter, sister, auntie, cousin, doggy mama and friend. She is an amazing artist and just the kind of person who would donate to this fundraiser. She helps everyone she can and inspires me to be a kinder, more generous person. She's the kind of person who sees someone sharing their new business venture on Facebook and makes a purchase just to support them. Netha had to be convinced to let me create this fundraiser as she does not believe this is a worthy enough cause. She is wrong.

Last year, after suffering from severe unexplained abdominal pain, which had had her rushed into hospital twice, Netha was told she was going to hospital for an endoscopy appointment. However, the purpose of the appointment was changed without her knowing, after her C125 blood test came back with a slightly elevated number and a scan result not shared with her showed a mass on her left ovary. With no warning, Netha found herself in an oncologist's office being told that she may have ovarian cancer and they needed to perform a full abdominal hysterectomy as soon as possible. The impact of receiving this news in this way was massive and the next day Netha went into shock. Luckily our lovely GP was able to come out and speak with her and us. The GP assured us that if it was cancer it must have been caught early as there were no external signs of it and that Netha was very lucky. The operation was carried out successfully in September 2020 but it was discovered that Netha had extreme endometriosis which required the scraping of her internal organs. This meant that Netha was in much more pain than the average woman who has a hysterectomy and she had to have a stent in her right kidney and a catheter installed. I stayed with her to support her after the operation, doing nightly blood thinning injections and driving her a 5 hour round trip to her weekly hospital appointments. It was hard but we saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I introduced her to Ru Paul's Drag Race which we watched together every night and earlier this year she brought us tickets to the 2022 tour as a surprise, which is just the sort of person she is. We were so grateful that Netha was able to have her operation despite covid, that she had continued support throughout and that the urethra and bladder fully healed and the stent and catheter could be removed. When the mass was examined, Netha was diagnosed with clear cell ovarian cancer, stage 1c. This was hard news but they told us that the worst was over, that Netha was being offered chemotherapy just as best practice and she did not have to go ahead with it. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief and Netha, though uncomfortable with the idea of chemo, went ahead with it, trusting in her doctors. Before starting the treatment in December 2020, Netha felt the best she had in years. She had energy back she hadn't even realised she had lost and we were all looking forward to a bright future together.

The chemo hit my sister hard, she has always been very sensitive to drugs and this left her dizzy, sick, confused and in pain. Her consultant lowered the dose and she still got sick. He lowered the dose again, as he believed the chemo to be precautionary this was normal practice. The aim was for Netha to have no side effects as, if chemo is too toxic, it can cause long term damage. In April this year Netha's abdominal pain returned and was bad enough to see her hospitalised. It was discovered that the cancer had jumped from stage 1c to stage 4, spreading to her liver. Her consultant advised that Netha finish up her round of chemo and then they would scan again. During this time my sister developed pains in her side, these were diagnosed as hernias (which are quite common after the kind of hysterectomy Netha had) and again we breathed a sigh of relief, just to have an answer. There would be some small, outpatient operations to remove them and then Netha would be out of pain. We knew we still had the cancer to deal with but there was talk of clinical trials and we believed that the doctors would find an answer for her. I think maybe we were all in shock, unable to face the possibility that, after everything being so positive, we might now lose her.

On Tuesday 11/05/21, Netha went into hospital for the results of her latest scan. There are no hernias. They are tumours. The hospital are unable to do more and Netha has been given 3 – 6 months to live. We cannot accept this. Netha means so much to her family and friends, to her nieces and nephews and to her little dog Daisy who loves her more than anything in the world. With the help of family and friends, we are doing everything we can to secure alternative treatment for Netha. The day after the latest news, her amazing friend Amanda took Netha to a health practitioner and signed her up for Jane McLelland's Starve Cancer program. This is an excellent treatment that has had good success with late stage cancer. It combines traditional drug treatment with an approach that targets the cancer through different pathways using off-label drugs, supplements and other therapies. We are working like crazy researching the off label drugs, supplements and treatments to block the pathways to Netha's cancer. We are signing Netha up to the Care Oncology Clinic at Harley Street and are trying to secure the support of her NHS oncologist in this process. So far, he has been wonderfully supportive. We keep hearing of miracles from the treatments Jane and her followers have used and we cannot help but believe that the same is possible for my sister. It has often been said that a little bit of magic follows Netha and we pray for some more of that magic now.

Please help us to give Netha the best possible chance of surviving. We want to do all that has been done by stage 4 clear cell ovarian cancer survivors. We want to hire a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which will cost £12,000 for one year and get IV vitamin c twice weekly which will be roughly £400 a week. Then there are the off label drugs and supplements and the weekly appointments with private medical professionals. The initial consultation at the Harley Street clinic alone will be £450.

Netha's cancer is particularly aggressive and we must act fast, there is no time to lose. Please donate if you can and share this fundraiser everywhere.

We know that times are hard for everyone and we are immensely grateful for every donation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, even a pound is greatly appreciated. We are so, so grateful to all of you who are supporting Netha by donating and sharing this fundraiser. As Netha would say; You Are Amazing