Inverness family launches appeal in bid to raise funds for mum's 'last resort' brain cancer treatment in California
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An emotional plea has been made by a resilient Inverness brain cancer patient who has been told her condition is inoperable.
Liene Krievina (41), who runs Wild Pancakes in the city centre with her husband Sandis Mitenbergs (43), suffers from stage four brain cancer.
Last Thursday she was refused surgery only a few moments before the procedure, for which she had travelled to Latvia.
This was due to the surgery being too dangerous because she was told she could have been left without speech and hearing.
Since her diagnosis in 2017 she has undergone various types of treatment, among which an operation in 2021 left her almost completely blind.
Not willing to give up, mother-of-two Liene said she still has hope that treatment offered at an institution in California could help shrink the tumour.
Describing it as a “last resort”, an online crowdfunding page has been launched in a bid to generate £20,000 towards the costs of travel and treatment – this is being helped by growing the business with the popular café aiming to open at new premises in Inglis Street ahead of its fifth anniversary next month.
“I want to live, I want to see my grandchildren,” Liene said.
“In the UK, the doctors said it was inoperable. I don’t want to give up so we looked if the procedure was possible elsewhere.
“The doctor in Latvia was very positive at first, but just before the surgery was to take place, he said that it was too risky and he could kill me.
“I was very hopeful for this surgery, I still have to process the fact that it has been refused.
“However, we were already looking at other options and when we found the centre in California, we felt very optimistic.”
The couple moved to Scotland in 2009 with their daughter Sindy (22) and son Richard (15).
Her husband had been running a wood furniture business full time until Liene’s diagnosis in 2017.
She worked at the café until 2021, when she lost almost 95 per cent of her sight following her second surgery.
She said: “It was my baby [the café], and it was very hard not being able to work there any more.
“When we first opened, we went around Inverness a lot, to see what was missing, and there wasn’t a pancake place as such.
“Now I can’t do much to help – I am more there for moral support!”
Ms Krievina had refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment – which she was told would extend her life by six months – due to the low success rate she was given (three per cent) and to avoid the side effects.
Since then, she and her family have been gathering information and studying natural and holistic therapies from various sources.
She said: “I have done everything I can to try and keep going – I have changed my diet, I have changed many things and most importantly my attitude.
“My sister says it too, that I am being very positive. But what choice do I have?”
Back in 2019, she travelled to Spain for treatment at the Budwig Center, and now her hope is to seek treatment at The TrueNorth Health Center in the US, which will cost at least £15,000.
She said she was overwhelmed by the support of her family.
“I have the best family and the best husband I could wish for,” she said.
“He truly is amazing – he has done and is doing so much to help me.”
Daughter Sindy said: “We opened the organic pancake café Wild Pancakes in 2018 as it was always my mum's dream to run a café and this would also help with the funds needed to save our mum.”
Mr Mitenbergs said they will now try to boost their business by expanding the café to new premises.
He said: “We have this last hope, now we are almost ready to open the new premises and hopefully we can save enough money to go to California.
“I always like to do it myself as much as I can, that’s why I am doing what I am doing.”
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-our-mum
