My mother’s breast cancer treatment

Dear friend,

After 18 months of fighting this cancer, my mother has now moved on to a better and higher place where she can rest peacefully. She was the bravest woman and she never gave up! Until her body betrayed her and she could not continue on with this struggle. With all your support she was able to receive the treatment she needed and our family will be forever grateful to you all! Thank you so much!

Rest in peace, Belita Grace de la Court ❤️ 29 July 2024 ✝️

03-01-24: 

Wishing everyone here a Happy New Year! It’s been a very busy few months with my mother traveling to India over December for specialised consultations and care. She will be returning to Zambia soon and will continue her road to recovery at home.

Her doctors have explained that the cancer cannot be removed entirely and that due to it not responding to the chemotherapy treatments she may have to live with it and keep it under control with certain medications that prevent it from spreading. 

It’s not the answer we were hoping for but with no other opinions or options we will have to continue to support her with medications and anything else to ensure she’s comfortable and can live as normal and healthy a life as possible.

All your donations and contributions have helped us to provide my mother with the best possible advice and treatment plan. Thanks to everyone who has already shared her story. We pray that we will continue to receive support as she needs ongoing medication.

Here’s more info on living with cancer as a chronic illness: https://amp.cancer.org/cancer/survivorship/long-term-health-concerns/cancer-as-a-chronic-illness.html

09-11-23:

My mother was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer which is a cancer that doesn’t respond to the usual chemotherapy treatments. 

India has one of the highest rates of triple negative breast cancer in the world and have some of the best facilities and treatments available to treat it. 

For my mother to travel to India and receive the treatment she needs to beat this cancer, we need to raise quite a significant amount of funds. 

The raised funds will support her with:

- visa and return travel tickets from Lusaka, Zambia to New Delhi, India.

- accommodation for a 6 week period (potentially longer).

- doctors consultations and treatment plan.

- treatment and medication.

- continued support and treatment after returning to Zambia. 

Please continue to share the page with your connections - please donate and contribute (all donations, no matter how small, help a lot!) - and pray for the best outcome for my mother. 

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed in their way. We are so grateful! 

02-11-23:

The kindness and generosity shown to us over the last few days since we launched this fundraising campaign has warmed our hearts and given us hope. We receive so much support and well wishes throughout each day, thank you everyone!

 

We also received a private donation today from close family friends. It is a sum that’s enough to cover the cost of a procedure that my mom needs before she can fly on a plane to India. The cancer has caused fluid to collect around her lungs and this needs to be drained before she can travel.

The fluid-buildup is causing her strained and shallow breathing. It is painful and difficult for her to go about daily tasks as she struggles to take in air.

To learn more about fluid collection around the lungs and chest have a read through this page by Cancer Research UK: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping/physically/breathing-problems/fluid-on-lungs-pleural-effusion

We are very grateful for the contributions so far. We still have a long way to go in order to cover all the costs.

Thanks to everybody who has contributed financially, by sharing posts online and spreading the word, and by sending us kind words of hope and encouragement. With all your support we will make it through!

01-11-23: 

We’re already receiving so much support as we’ve kicked off this fundraiser for my mom’s breast cancer treatment. Thanks to everyone who is donating, sharing and sending positive messages and prayers!

Every effort you all make helps get the word out. We have had people contact us giving us advice and tips on how to best navigate the move to India, also on how to best support my mother emotionally as we’re preparing for this journey.

My mother is currently continuing with the chemotherapy treatment that she’s been on since early May this year. We’re hoping this will continue to slow down the spread of the cancer although we now know that this is not enough to beat it or stop the spreading.

The cancer type is triple negative breast cancer. This kind of breast cancer does not have any of the receptors that are commonly found in breast cancer. 

Think of cancer cells as a house. The front door may have three kinds of locks, called receptors— One is for the female hormone estrogen. One is for the female hormone progesterone. One is a protein called human epidermal growth factor (HER2). If the cancer has any of these three locks, doctors have a few keys (like hormone therapy or other drugs) they can use to help destroy the cancer cells. But if you have triple-negative breast cancer, it means those three locks aren’t there. So doctors have fewer keys for treatment. 

Often, patients first need to have the lump removed (a lumpectomy) or the entire breast removed (a mastectomy). Then they have chemotherapy treatments to target any cancer cells that can’t be seen—cells remaining in the breast or that may have spread into other parts of the body. Sometimes doctors recommend chemotherapy before surgery to shrink the cancer. 

Lumpectomies are usually followed by radiation therapy. This is where high-energy radiation is given to your breast to kill any remaining cancer cells. It usually takes about 20 minutes per day. Most women go in four to five days a week for about six weeks. You’ll see a radiation doctor to have this done.

Here’s more info on this from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/triple-negative.htm

These life-saving treatments are not available in hospitals in Zambia and so my mother will have to travel to India to receive more extensive treatment.

31-10-23:

My brother and I are setting up this page to help our mother who is battling stage 4 breast cancer.

The treatment she needs to continue her fight is extremely costly. We have put everything we have into helping her through this, but we’re still coming up short.

Please help us raise the remaining funds needed to continue and to complete her treatment and save her life.

Belita is 57 years old and has overcome breast cancer once before in her early 40s. She has been clear all these years until April 2023 it was discovered that it had returned. She is our beloved mother, grandmother, auntie, sister and wife. Any help will mean a lot to our family.