A dying mum has decided to stop cancer treatment so she can make the most of her last days with her eight-year-old son.
Brave Melissa Lacey, 33, said 'quality of life is better than quantity' after being diagnosed with cancer of the appendix last June.
The rare form of cancer spread and Melissa, from Sunderland, had to endure a 14 hour operation to have a number of organs removed, including three quarters of her small bowel, half of her large bladder and her gall bladder.
When she returned home, she had a course of chemotherapy, but an extreme reaction left her bed-bound with stroke-like symptoms.
So the mum has taken the agonising decision to stop the chemotherapy so she can spend as much time as possinle with her eight-year-old son Evan and husband Carl, 38.
Melissa – who has been told she could have two years to live – told her local paper: "This isn't a decision I've made overnight, it's really tough. But since I was diagnosed with cancer I've always said that quality comes over quantity. I want quality time with my little boy, my friends and family.
"This cancer is so rare that's there's no guarantee chemotherapy will work and without that guarantee I've chosen not to continue.
"I'll take two years of quality time over five years lying in hospital, which I have been every weekend since having chemotherapy.
"It makes my little boy unhappy, and all I want to do is make him happy.
"I still feel fatigued really quickly, the surgery has affected my body so extensively. But at least I can stand in the kitchen for half an hour and make the tea.
"I may only live a few more months, but at least I will be able to make happy memories with Evan."
Touched by Melissa's heartbreaking story, old school friends have now clubbed together to send her on a dream trip to DisneyWorld.
To learn more about a support group for those with a similar condition to Melissa visit Pseudomyxomasurvivor.org.
To donate to Memories for Melissa visit Gofundme.com/memoriesformelissa.
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