Mum has months to live as ‘bad cough’ turns out to be stage four lung cancer
A mum who went to the doctors with a cough has been told she only has months to live.
Jane Brogan’s world was shattered three weeks ago when a chest infection turned out to be stage four lung cancer.
The mother-of-three says she now wants to make as many precious memories as possible with her children.
Jane, 38, had been suffering from a bad cough for six weeks but sought medical attention when she began vomiting repeatedly.
She said: ‘I went into the GP and they sent me for a chest x-ray and it came back that there were a few infection markers.
‘They said they would have to treat it as an infection and do another x-ray in six weeks.
‘But I didn’t get to six weeks because I just kept vomiting, I couldn’t keep anything down.
‘So I took myself off to A&E. At the time I still just thought it was an infection.’
Worried by the sound of Jane’s cough, the on-duty doctor decided to do another chest x-ray.
She said: ‘They found signs of infection in the x-ray so they kept me in.
‘That day they did a CT scan and that’s when they found it.’
What she thought was just a minor ailment turned out to be stage four lung cancer.
She said: ‘They’ve said it’s treatable but not curable, and that I’ve got months, not years.
‘I’m still numb – I don’t think it’s even sunk in yet.’
Jane is starting chemotherapy this week in a bid to spend as much time as possible with her three children, Molly, 14, Elena, 7, and Thomas, 5.
She said: ‘I’m having two courses of that and then they’ll do a CT scan to see if it’s shrunk it or if it hasn’t, and then they’ll need to rethink, treatment-wise.
‘The children are doing alright, they know I’m poorly but the little ones don’t really know to what extent.
‘I think I’m just blanking it out and taking it day by day to deal with it I suppose.’
Jane’s younger sister Julie has now launched a crowdfunding page to help the single mum deal with expenses as she fights the disease and make memories with her family.
Julie wrote on the GoFundMe page: ‘This is so hard to write as we never thought as a family this would be something we would ever experience.
‘As of yesterday we were given the devastating news that my big sister has terminal lung cancer.
‘My sister is a single mum to 3 amazing children.
‘The aim of this campaign is to relieve some of the financial impacts that this horrible disease causes and to make lasting memories with the children.
‘We all love you so much Jane. Keep living life to the fullest. We are with you every step of the way.’
To donate, visit the family’s GoFundMe.