London, United Kingdom – A woman from Edgware in north London lived for 21 years with terminal breast cancer, all because her husband kept her prognosis a secret, only to find a life-saving treatment.
Rosie Gamp was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and was told by doctors that the disease would ultimately take her life. However, her husband, Melvin Gamp, chose to keep this information from her and instead researched experimental treatment. He found anastrozole, a hormone therapy drug, which has since been proven to reduce the risk of breast cancer developing and returning. This drug ended up prolonging Rosie’s life for another 21 years.
Her husband, now 95 years old, believed he did the right thing by keeping her in the dark about her prognosis. He kept the news from her, claiming that she had already suffered enough with the loss of her four sisters to cancer. Rosie, unaware of the gravity of her illness, declined chemotherapy, fearing she would lose her hair before her grandson’s bar mitzvah.
The experimental drug, now branded as Arimidex and available on the NHS, was taken by Rosie for the rest of her life. Despite the uncertainty of how long the drug would work, she continued to take it and lived to the age of 91. It wasn’t until her eulogy that the family learned of her extraordinary fight against cancer and the role her husband played in keeping her alive.
Oli Gamp, their grandson, spoke of the love his grandfather had for his grandmother, acknowledging the risk he took in withholding her prognosis. It was a way for him to protect her and keep her safe, ultimately paying off as she cheated death by 21 years. The couple enjoyed 67 years of marriage before Rosie passed away from kidney failure. It was a testament to their enduring love and the extraordinary measures her husband took to extend her life.