I thought I just had heartburn – now I’m living with a death sentence and won’t see my kids grow up

Having kids can be tiring.

So when mom Amie Walton suddenly felt a shooting pain whilst playing with her little ones, she dismissed it as fatigue.

But just 12 hours later, she was given a shocking diagnosis which she says will mean she won’t get to see her children grow up.

The 30-year-old had never experienced any health issues before but had been suffering from heartburn for months.

After experiencing the shooting pain in both shoulders in September 2020, she spoke to her GP, who suspected she had a blood clot.

She was rushed to the hospital where medics revealed she had a tumor the size of a pea on the right side of her colon, which had spread to her liver.

Sadly, Amie was told she had stage 4 bowel cancer – the same deadly illness Sun writer and campaigner, Dame Deborah James was diagnosed with in 2016.

The mom-of-two is now fundraising to pay for a more than $2k-a-month treatment to buy her time to see her two children, Harry, eight, and Mia, six grow.

She said: “When I was diagnosed with stage 4, I just went completely blank. I was so distraught. It all happened so quickly.”

Within a week of diagnosis, Amie was put on aggressive chemotherapy treatment that made her hypersensitive to cold, meaning she could not even touch her children’s hands if they were not warm enough.

In April 2021, she was told the chemo had been successful and that she was eligible to have 60 percent of her liver removed.

Amie, who had six tumors on the left side of her liver and 15 on the right, said: “I was terrified, I thought I was going to die. I’m so young and I was fit and healthy, so it was a massive shock.

“But the chemo was miraculous. We were told I had a small chance for it to be successful, but it worked. My liver went from being like that of an alcoholic to being completely normal.”

But after having the procedure, two more tumors were found and Amie had to have three more rounds of chemo in June 2021.

Then in November, she was told the treatment had not worked and that she would have to have selective internal radiotherapy treatment (SIRT), where tiny radioactive beads are injected into the artery which supplies cancer.

The treatment costs more than $35,000 and is not available on the NHS.

In order to help raise funds, Amie’s pal Jess Davies launched a fund that currently sits at over $14,000.

Amie said she had no idea what bowel cancer was until she followed Deborah James’ story on social media.

She said: “The unit where I receive treatment in the hospital is next to where the babies are and I always say that’s where I should be, not on the cancer ward.

“This has just been surreal. I can’t believe it at times, I’m so young.

“Especially the days I don’t feel so bad. I just don’t really understand how I have cancer.

“Even nurses have cried when they’ve seen me and they see the most horrible things every day.

“I’m a young mum with young children. I shouldn’t be in and out of hospital wondering how long I have left.”

When Amie was recovering from treatment in March this year, she was told she was unable to have a liver resection.

Further tests revealed she had more than 50 tumors in each lung.

She added: “I just wanted to curl into a ball. It feels like I’m living in a nightmare and I want to wake up.”

Like Deborah James, Amie has also battled sepsis and said that she can’t believe all of this has happened from a tiny tumor in her bowel.

She is trying to stay positive and wants to prolong her life so she can be a mum to her kids for longer.

Amie: “All I care about is my children and my fiancé. I still want my children to see me as their mum, who was always there for them.

“The toughest days are when I miss important things for them, because I’m ill or having treatment. My daughter had her first play and I wasn’t able to be there, which was really sad.

“These are the moments as a parent when you need to be there, as it’s so important to your children.

“This palliative chemotherapy would mean I could be there for them for longer.”

Her fiancé Chris added that he feels numb and that the options are ‘running out.

He added: “Our oncologist started talking to us about wills, which was just something I didn’t think we would ever be talking about.

“But I’m so proud of Amie. She’s been incredible, after going through the most horrendous time and does everything she can for our children.”

You can donate to Amie’s fundraiser by visiting GoFundMe.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.