Monique’s a Shining Light and Star so Bright

The star of my first book is gravely ill

The news is grim. In early February of 2017, Kelly-Ann, also known as Monique, couldn’t shake a cough that had started in November and was getting fed up. She went to the incompetent National Health Services (NHS) and saw a Doctor, who gave her some tablets, told her she had Bronchitis and fucked her off ASAP.

A week later, starting to feel a shortness of breath and an unusual sound in her lungs, Kelly-Ann went back to the incompetent Doctor and demanded he actually took the glazed look off his face and look at her. It was then that he realised she had an abnormal sound coming from her lungs and recommended she get scanned. The scans were done and it was determined that she had a collapsed lung. She went through several weeks of being sent from one department to the next, while people looked bewilderingly at her and confused as to what day it was and why she was even looking at them before she met an Oncologist who realised that Kelly-Ann had Stage 3b lung cancer.

The prognosis

By the time Kelly-Ann had returned to her original Doctor, who by this stage had realised his error – and how he had essentially eliminated any room to move in her treatment, by misdiagnosing her in the first place – lumps had developed in her lungs, throat, legs and hips. Because this particular Doctor had won his Doctorate in the Weetbix annual smallest penis breakfast championships, he advised Kelly-Ann that her cancer was not a particularly aggressive type of cancer. But he did mention casually that it had become Stage 4 cancer.

From the moment Kelly-Ann had been diagnosed with cancer, she was put on a 100% alkaline diet by her daughter, Cherie, who is 27 years old and is gravely concerned about her Mother’s condition. She went strictly vegan, organic and ate foods that have been studied and thought to actively fight cancer.

Unfortunately, it seems too little too late. As we all know, there is no cancer cure yet. There are just a lot of hopes and scams.

Hospitalisation

Because Homerton Hospital lost Kelly-Ann’s blood work, she had to have a whole new set done this past week. This coincided with the tumors spreading and getting bigger, to the point where Kelly-Ann cannot breathe comfortably unassisted and the lump in her neck is around the size of a grapefruit. She was instantly hospitalised when a Doctor at the hospital finally saw her and realised she was poorly.

She’s been on palliative chemotherapy for the past month, which essentially means the chemotherapy is being administered purely to make her more comfortable, not to fight the cancer. This is because her cancer is too far spread and aggressive. The release notes claim that while this type of palliative chemotherapy is designed to prolong the life of the cancer patient by 33%, studies have shown that the opposite is true. This type of chemotherapy at this stage is pointless and has no real benefit.

As of yesterday, Kelly-Ann looked like your typical poster for a terminally ill, Stage 4 lung cancer sufferer.

Speed of light

Who knew that cancer was this aggressive and fast. At the time of writing this blog, it was merely 4 months ago that Kelly-Ann and I were having a couple of pints and laughing at life’s wondrous shennanigans. To see her having been reduced to this state, so quickly, is a shock. Especially to those that have known her and her strength to fight anything with voracity.

Monique and I put her story into a book, at the end of 2015. I’ve heard many people say, ‘I’m gonna write a book about my life one day,’ which always makes me laugh. These same people who make these statements I find difficult to listen to, let alone look forward to their life in a book.

Are you fucking kidding me… Yet, when Kelly-Ann first told me that she worked as a prostitute and had trafficked drugs across European borders, my jaw dropped. When she gave me specifics about her life and her torment and her rape, the abuse, the horrors, I knew then that she was someone whose story I would read. Heck, she was someone who’s story I would write. I thought I’d provide an update on Monique for those of you who have read her book.

I’ll always love you Kelly-Ann/Monique.

Fox