Couple from Burnley urgently plan dream wedding after groom’s cancer diagnosis

11:00am Thursday 8th March 2012 in News By Vanessa Cornall , Reporter

Tammy Dale and Tom Cooper are planning their dream wedding.

a COUPLE are urgently planning a dream wedding after the groom was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Dad of two 24-year-old Tom Cooper and his fiancee Tammy Dale have stepped up plans to get hitched after being told he had a rare form of advanced throat cancer.

the Burnley couple, who had previously put off wedding plans because of money worries, are now appealling for help in raising funds for their big day.

because of the rare nature of his illness doctors have told Tom that they do not know how long he has left.

And full-time carer Tammy said she hopes that the wedding will be a ‘legacy of love’ for her and their two children.

Friends have now rallied round to help organise the wedding and raise the cash needed so the couple can enjoy their last weeks together.

he was diagnosed with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in October and, despite the couple already being engaged, he presented her with a ring on Valentine’s Day and they are now desperate to make sure their big day can happen as soon as possible.

former nail technician Tammy, 23, has quit her job to be Tom’s full-time carer and he has given up his job as a maintenance worker for Accent Housing due to his ill health.

She said: “As a young family, who are out of work because of circumstances beyond our control, we can not afford to get married on our own.

“All we want to do is create precious memories and a legacy of love for us as a couple and our children.

“It would be absolutely fantastic and would mean so very much if there was anything at all that anybody could do to help us create our dream day.

“Tom is an all-round amazing, inspirational person. he is a perfect father and partner and always puts everyone else first no matter what.

“He is a selfless person who gives our children everything even when he is feeling poorly.”

Tom and Tammy hope the wedding will be in early April.

Close friend of the couple, Wesley Hall, is leading the dream wedding campaign.

he said: “Tammy is a good friend and I when I heard about her situation on Facebook I just wanted to help.

“My background is in sales and marketing and I thought I could help them get a really special day.

“What they’re going through is unimaginable and I want to help them have the best day possible.”

they met nearly 10 years ago when they were teenagers, have been together for four years.

they have two daughters, 19-month-old Ziani and Tienna, four, who is a Read Primary School pupil and live in Greenbrook Road, Burnley.

Tammy said: “Just before the summer last year Tom started complaining of a sore neck. We thought it was his glands so were not overly worried until a family member urged us to get it checked out.

“During the earlier doctors appointments Tom was told it was an infection and given antibiotics, but when the symptoms didn’t ease he was referred to a consultant who carried out a biopsy.

“Immediately after the biopsy the consultant told us he was almost certain there were white cancerous cells but we would have to wait for the test results to be 100 per cent sure.

“That wait was absolutely awful, our minds just worked overtime imagining the worst.

“When the results came back they confirmed our fears. Tom had cancer, a rare one at that, and doctors were not able to cure it.”

Doctors told the couple that Tom was in the advanced stages of terminal cancer and that he had had the disease for at least two years.

Further scans showed the former maintenance worker had cancer behind the nose, in the throat, in the lymph nodes of the neck, in the collar bone, under both arms and in his lungs.

Medics said his condition was so rare they were unsure how to treat him.

after several rounds of chemotherapy the former Accent Housing worker was rushed into hospital with an infection shortly before Christmas.

Tammy, of said: “After all the bad news we had received we wanted to have a really special family Christmas at home with our girls.

“But that was not to be, It was a very emotional, heartbreaking week. I spent every day in the hospital with Tom and the children had to spend every day and night with my parents.

“It was touch and go for a couple of days which made us realise the end may well be nearer than any of us think or expect. the doctors just don’t know how long he has got left because his condition is so rare.”

anyone who can help is asked to visit facebook.com/burnleysdreamwedding

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ALBANY, Ga. — Five years ago, a movement began to ensure those uninsured or underinsured in Southwest Georgia were getting regular cancer screenings.

So far, the returns on this have been promising.

The Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition’s health navigator program, consisting of three full-time employees, go into six community health centers in the region to identify the uninsured or underinsured that are due for screenings and walk them through the process of getting the screenings performed from start to finish.

County breakdown of cancer screenings(July 1, 2010- June 31, 2011)

Baker: 33Ben Hill: 1Calhoun: 11Clay: 3Colquitt: 2Decatur: 9Dougherty: 229Early: 65Lee: 17Miller: 13Mitchell: 59Quitman: 1Randolph: 5Seminole: 12Sumter: 5Terrell: 73Thomas: 1Worth: 1

“They identify patients that are eligible, put a prompt in their record to alert their doctors and the doctors provide the medical clearance (for the screenings),” explained Denise Ballard, vice president of cancer prevention and control for the Cancer Coalition.

The navigators maintain contact with the patients, prompting them to follow proper preparatory procedures. From the first phone call until the time the screening is complete, the patient has talked to their navigator eight times.

“The navigators get the patients into lab services or hospital services (as needed) and help them with financial services,” Ballard said.“We prevent them from running into roadblocks.”

The program was piloted in Baker County in 2006 and eventually expanded to the influence it has now. the health navigator system was fully up and running by 2008.

In that time, a total of 800 colonoscopies have been done through the program with six cancers found.

Navigators conduct one-on-one patient education and preparatory procedures, assist patients with the proper paperwork, arrange transportation as needed, arrange initial surgical treatment if its necessary, collect and report data, ensure timely medical record transfer among providers and provide performance feedback to referring physicians.

“We walk them through every step of the process,” Ballard said.“It’s a constant communication.”

Rhonda Green, program manager for the coalition’s community cancer screening program, said that patients are generally tracked for two months if not longer.

“We have to stay connected to these patients,” she said.they remain on the program’s radar indefinitely.

“As long as the patient is with the community health center, they stay in our system,” Ballard said. “Right now, we have patients coming back for their five-year screenings.”

The Cancer Coalition covers the cost of the colonoscopies, which it is able to do in part from a grant from the Georgia Cancer Coalition.the end result of the process is that a relationship forms between the navigator and the patient.

“They tend to rely on us,” Ballard said. “They come back to us if they need to be connected with the right services.”

Charles Greene, one of the navigators, said that education is perhaps the most important thing that he does while citing a study from the Nancy C. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion, which found that eliminating the education barrier can reduce cancer deaths among African-American males by 50 percent.

“Education is the largest thing we do,” Greene said. “People don’t know when to get screened our where to go.”

Education may mean explaining to a patient what a colonoscopy is.“We get them, educate them and they share their experiences with other people,” Green said.

Perhaps the second most important thing is making sure the patients keep their appointments.

“These slots are rare, so we have to make sure we keep the patient on our minds,” Greene said.

Greene starts his tracking process by finding out who is coming into the clinic that week and what screenings they need. Once that’s been determined, the patient’s name is submitted on the referral the doctor approves.

“The referral is the bread and butter,” the navigator said.

Greene has been associated with the Cancer Coalition for three years, serving the last two as a health navigator. the first year, he was involved with a prostate cancer project which tracked a group of 60 men to determine their risk of developing the disease.

“I was going out and recruiting people,” Greene said of the project. “I would contact individuals and set up appointments.

“Since I had a lot of experience, they saw I was a good fit (as a health navigator), and I was given a clinic.”

Greene is based at South Albany Medical Center, but also tracks patients at Lee Medical Arts Center and East Albany Medical Center. At one time, he is keeping up with 20 to 30 people.

This program is needed here, especially in the environment where the navigators are based.

“Eighty-five to 90 percent of those diagnosed with cancer are treated in community centers,” Greene said. “It’s important to have navigators where people are being treated.”

Once the referral process is complete, Greene speaks to the patient about everything — including what might be standing in the way of getting the screening done. he then schedules the screenings, gives the patient the preparatory kit and teaches him or her how to use it.

“We make sure they understand in clear language,” he said. “It is a lot of back and forth.

“And we encourage them to call us anytime.”

Aside from addressing the education disparities, Greene said the best part about the job is knowing cancers are being caught early, and that patients are telling their loved ones about the program.

“It really does pay off,” Greene said.

Probably the worst part about the job is knowing there are some patients you just can’t convince to get screened.

“You can’t reach everybody,” Greene said. “We are making a difference, but it’s a slow process to change cultures.“It takes one person at a time.”

The system has been helpful in the region, officials say, especially with what it is faced with in terms of maintaining good health.“In Southwest Georgia, in most counties, there are higher incidents and death rates from many preventable cancers,” Ballard said. “We focus on prevention.

“We also focus on early detection. Prevention is the best thing, but early detection is the second best thing.”

Specifically, the barriers faced locally include high rates of uninsured or low-income patients — which in turn can prevent regular screenings.

Unfortunately, that’s only one piece of the puzzle — which is why navigators have so many responsibilities.

“These individuals face all kinds of barriers, so we work with local health providers to eliminate these barriers,” Ballard said.

“We can eliminate the financial barriers, but that’s not enough. anything we see as a problem, we help them overcome those issues.”

The overall idea is to prevent potential cancer patients from ending up in the emergency room.

“Cancer centers see a lot of patients that show up in the emergency room when they have severe symptoms, and they absorb that cost,” Ballard said. “With one patient diagnosed, the (health navigator) program pays for itself.”

The program also helps physician offices in that there is not always time to track every patient this closely.

“On average, doctors have only 10 minutes with a patient,” Ballard said. “The doctors here (due to physician shortages) may have less time, and patients have more severe symptoms.”

During the fiscal year that ended on June 31, there were 540 patients served through the program. In that timeframe, there were four colon cancers and one prostate cancer found — all in stage 1.

Of the screenings performed for colon, prostate, cervical and breast cancers, colon screenings have made for the most activity. out of the 320 colon screenings done, 244 came back abnormal.

Almost 130 of those screenings revealed adenomatous polyps — which can turn into cancer over time.

“Even though it is worrisome that all these people are walking around with polyps and not knowing it, we have able to prevent a number of cancers,” Ballard said.

Currently, the program serves 18 counties. In the next two weeks, health navigators will soon be adding Tift County to their influence.

“We are slowing getting to our goal of reaching all 31 counties (within the Cancer Coalition’s influence),” Ballard said.

That’s a goal the coalition wishes to reach in another three years, Ballard said.

The addition of Tift County will likely mean another navigator position.

“We are going to need more, but we will make do with the staff we have,” Ballard said.

“As we grow, we will need more resources.”

Officials are in the process of conducting an evaluation of the program, which is expected to be complete by next spring.

I am diagonise with anxiety two times and I have just the symptoms of HIV too. I had unsafe sex too.

Hi,
You have been diagnosed with Anxiety
I think that because you have had unprotected sex you are now worrying that you have exposed yourself to a chance of contracting the virus.
I would advise that you do get tested,but at the same time would advise that you probably haven't contracted the virus,I am not making lite of the serious nature of HIV or of unprotected sex.
But a lot would depend on if you are having sex with someone who would be in a high risk group or someone that perhaps has slept with someone in a high risk group.
This is why it is Always so very important to choose your Lovers with care and take time to get to know them and who they are,well as best as you can.
Unprotected Sex is not advisable if you are not in a long term relationship and then its a good idea to stay safe until you are 100% sure that there will be a full time commitment,then get tested together just to be on the safe side.
Do get tested but please try not to worry you are probably OK.

time u sorted this out is it not
regular massage
voluntary work
hypnotherapy

Spiritual healing ,Seichim and Reiki healing
This is the application of spiritual energies to the effect of helping people on all levels of their being .
That includes
Your mental well being
Your emotional well being
Your physical well being
Your spiritual well being .
There are millions of these therapists around the world and people travel from far and wide to them .Billions of people have been helped from these therapies .

And like all therapists there are good and not so good and some specialise in certain conditions like the physical and some do the mental etc .It is important to find the therapist which suits your complaint .
But you must bear this in mind all healing comes under what is known as spiritual law =you will be healed to the extent that you have earnt .ie your karma –the reaping and sowing of all deeds done 0ften from past lives .And what you are doing for the service of others in this life .
Thus you may easily two people with the same complaint go for healing and only one of them gets healed .which is why voluntary work is vital for your healing.

You must find good therapists in your area /and a good spiritualist church who often give their services for free as an offering to the divine .

All you do is usually sit down in a comfortable chair and relax and think good loving thoughts –the healer may or may not place their hands upon you .that depends on how they are working .

You can even put your names healing books where believe it or not healing is sent to you by thought and that can be very powerful as well.

Spiritual healing — study the healing of harry edwards google search

Harry Edwards recalled the case of a young man who, accompanied by a lady, was brought to me for healing. He was in great pain and eaten-up with arthritis. as the healing proceeded, so his pains left him, and his joints began to loosen and become free. when I had finished treating him, it was a real delight to see how wonderfully glad he was to be able to use his legs, feet, arms and hands again… and then he told me: "when I came here, I was convinced no one could help me, and I came only to please my Aunt, who brought me."

You worked a miracle with his father when he was very ill 1983-84 when I wrote to you, but you will be pleased to know he is now working for the Council and lives a fairly normal life.

I's report is complete – he is 100% fit and will have no trouble in resuming his sporting activities -considering the first reports, this is a miracle. I do not know how I would have managed without your wonderful help.

You and the late Harry Edwards helped me so often and indeed I am still pressing on 18 years after I was expected to die from my last bout of cancer.

I wrote to ask for healing for my sister who was to undergo an operation for aneurysm in the aorta. Her operation was very successful. after 1 day in intensive care and 2 days in progressive care she was back in her own room and has done extremely well. She was allowed home after 7 days when she had been told to expect to be in hospital for 10 to 15 days. Everyone was amazed at her recovery and the surgeon told her she had been a perfect patient. I feel sure the absent healing and our prayers were to a great extent responsible for this wonderful recovery and I thank you most sincerely for your help.

I thought perhaps you would like to have a record of the people you have helped during the time I have been sending reports. M.L. -angina, complete recovery. D. L. -duodenal ulcer, complete healing. B.L. – Angina, complete recovery. P.D. – Leukaemia – apparent full recovery.

On behalf of my mother, daughter and myself may I thank you for the lovely day at your Sanctuary last Tuesday. my mother is so much better it is truly amazing. She can stretch out her arms and even raise them to her head and her walking is much stronger. my daughter was very impressed, too. 1141/6
My condition improved in as much as I now have much more self-confidence and ability to deal with my everyday life. 1145/6
G.S. good news. Up until recently he had to be helped to get into and out of his car. It is adapted to enable a disabled person to drive, the other day he got into his car entirely on his own and drove some 12 miles to a nearby town. Got out on his own and went into a shop to make a purchase. No wheelchair anymore! 1142/6

well if you had unsafe sex get your self checked, that simple no point worried about it now…you know for sure once you have a blood test

I'd be more worried about your anxiety then your chance to get HIV

That doesn't tell us anything