Northamptonshire woman with rare form of cancer on a mission to educate about sarcoma

Daisy Ellis was diagnosed with sarcoma four months after she turned 21. But instead of letting it beat her she is vlogging about her experience to educate others about the rare cancer.
Daisy Ellis is on a mission to educate people about sarcoma - a rare form of cancer. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.Daisy Ellis is on a mission to educate people about sarcoma - a rare form of cancer. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.
Daisy Ellis is on a mission to educate people about sarcoma - a rare form of cancer. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.

It was always Daisy's dream to become a primary school teacher but cancer had other ideas.

Halfway through her university course Daisy was suffering from horrific back pain and was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal sarcoma after initially puzzling medics with her condition.

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Since her life-changing diagnosis the now 23-year-old from Rothersthorpe has endured 20 cycles of chemotherapy and 40 sessions of radiotherapy but she is not letting her condition define her.

Daisy's message to readers is to make sure they check out lumps and bumps as soon as possible. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.Daisy's message to readers is to make sure they check out lumps and bumps as soon as possible. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.
Daisy's message to readers is to make sure they check out lumps and bumps as soon as possible. Credit: Oopsy Daisy blog.

Now, brave Daisy is vlogging about her experience to raise awareness of sarcoma, an uncommon cancer which can affect any part of the body, on the inside or outside, including the muscle, bone, tendons, blood vessels and fatty tissues.

Daisy said: "Hopefully by making people aware, they might look for sarcoma a lot earlier and hopefully get to the problem in time.

"I hope that not only potential patients but also doctors and nurses see my message."I’ve had a message from a doctor before to say she will always remember my story, and consider sarcoma in much more cases than she has previously. Most medics haven’t even heard of sarcoma, and as the symptoms can be so general, it’s very hard to diagnose."

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Daisy believes if she was to go to the doctors earlier her cancer might have been found but by the time she was diagnosed the cancer had spread to the tissue.

"I wasn’t able to go back to work, it is all consuming and incredibly unpredictable," she added.

"One day I can feel well enough to get up and out the house to see my friends, other days I can’t even make it to the bathroom without any help.

"My only symptom when I was diagnosed was back pain, which then spread to my leg. It was absolute agony, and when the cancer has spread to other places since, it continues to cause pain in all of those areas too."

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On a good day, Daisy can drive, cook for herself and socialise with friends but her activities are restricted because of the severe pain she feels. The cancer even caused her spine to collapse in three places and her pelvis is fractured in parts.

Daisy's terminal cancer is now aggressively spreading and her last option is to have her tumour analysed under a microscope to see if an effective drug - which will cost £2,000 - can be matched with her DNA.

Daisy added: "Sarcoma is really lonely, I know a few people online who have it but not many with the same sub-type or treatment plan, so it’s very hard to make predictions about your future."

To read more on Daisy's blog click here.

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