51 year-old Kim Oakhill’s life changed overnight when night sweats and hot flushes turned out to be a devastating diagnosis – and now she is fundraising for private access to a targeted drug unavailable on the NHS.
Prior to her diagnosis with stage four lung cancer in 2024, aged 48, Kim was healthy and fit, but began experiencing persistent leg pain, fatigue, night sweats and hot flushes. After seeking medical advice, her symptoms were put down to perimenopause and she was prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but it failed to improve her condition.
Eventually, her HRT dose was increased, however her symptoms continued to worsen. By February 2025, Kim had developed a cough which was believed to be an unrelated infection.
View 4 ImagesWhat doctors believed to be “perimenopause symptoms” had in fact been the first signs of her cancer.
(Image: Kim Oakhill / SWNS)
Over the following months, she was diagnosed with various conditions including acid reflux, asthma and a chest infection, but no medication helped. More symptoms soon followed, including changes to her voice. She said: “It started to get quite low, or quite high. It wasn’t painful, my voice just sounded different.”
Eventually, she was sent for a CT scan which she was told was “just to rule out anything serious.” By the following morning, she was told tests had revealed a mass on her right lung which was cancerous and classed as stage four.
View 4 ImagesKim Oakhill with her youngest son who shaved his head to support her.(Image: Kim Oakhill / SWNS)
The cancer had also spread to the lining of her heart and brain, making it advanced and inoperable. Kim said: “They showed me a mass on my right lung and liquid around my lung and heart. I expected them to come back from the scan and say I needed new chest infection medication – it was an unbelievable shock.”
What doctors believed to be “perimenopause symptoms” had in fact been the first signs of her cancer. The mum-of-three, from Ely, Cambridgeshire, underwent several rounds of intensive life-extending chemotherapy.
However, after finishing a course in April, she experienced excruciating limb pain, hair loss and severe sickness. She was later told it was unclear how long it would be until the cancer began spreading again, and that at that stage there would be nothing more the NHS could offer.
View 4 ImagesKim hopes to raise £150,000 for life-saving treatment(Image: Kim Oakhill / SWNS)
After researching her condition and anticipating a life expectancy of under 12 months, Kim is now fundraising £150,000 for private targeted treatment. Kim said: “I just have to keep staying positive for my family, and for myself.
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“It does consume me, but I have to try and not let that happen. I had never smoked, and I want to stop the stigma that says you don’t get lung cancer unless you smoke,” she added. “If you have lungs, you can get lung cancer.”
To support Kim’s fundraiser, click here