Help & Support Kel to fight her GBM

Hello all,

It has been a while since I posted an update about my little sister, Kel and her journey with GBM.

After we received great news earlier in the year, where the tumor was shrinking, we were elated and so thankful!

In Kel's last two MRI's it has shown that her tumor is growing and not responding to the current medication as hoped.

In January 2023, Kel will undertake a new form of chemotherapy via IV (she will also need to have a port inserted as her veins have completely disappeared) and in conjunction with that, she will also be given an agent known as Avastin. A completely new set of drugs with their own side effects, which she will have to navigate as best she can. We and her new Medical Oncologist are hopeful that this new combination of chemotherapy will have positive results.

Unfortunately, there are now co-payments payable and she / we need all the help we can get in order to allow her the opportunity to get this treatment.

Any donation and support, whether big or small would be so greatly appreciated. Kel is a fighter and she wants to fight as hard as she can!

If you are in a position to help, we thank you, if you can share this with people you know who could help, we thank you!

Merry Christmas and God bless you all.

*ORIGINAL GOFUNDME POST*

This is a long one, and I thank you in advance for your time and support!

On 26 August 2020, my little sister, who will be turning 32 on 17 October, was diagnosed with a "Thalamic Glioma". 

In an instant her entire life came to a standstill and changed. In a split second, all hopes and dreams started to come into question. But, we remained hopeful ... As a family we prayed and asked for restoration of perfect health. Yes, we were and still praying for a miracle! 

Kelly had her stereotactic biopsy on 5 September, so we could receive a definitive diagnosis of her brain tumor. Today, 11 September 2020, we received her results. She has been diagnosed with a Grade IV Astrocytoma, also known as Grade IV Glioblastoma Multiform or Glioblastoma. This is the most aggressive and most common type of primary brain tumor in adults.

Her tumor is fast growing and an immediate treatment plan has been put in place. The symptoms that she started showing two weeks ago are already getting progressively worse.

Reading messages from your mom saying that she was up all night with my sister because she was in tears saying "I don't want to die" is not easy to read or think about.

I am in Melbourne, Australia and she is all the way in South Africa. I am devastated about not being able to go and be with my little sister. I am angry that she is going through this and I cannot be there to fight alongside her… I am even more sad about the fact that I don’t know what is going to happen and if I will ever see her again, if my 5 year old daughter will ever see her aunty again.

My daughter and I received exemptions to leave Australia and approval from South Africa to return (with such great appreciation), but, we simply just cannot do it - which is the hardest blow I have had to face because all I want to do is be with my sister and mom.

• The fees for the approved flights are exorbitant, especially since you have to pay a one way flight each time and then you have to pay for mandatory hotel quarantine... never mind all the other costs.

I haven't been working since middle March, I am a qualified teacher, but I had to step up for my daughter and home school her - this is her Prep year, so she deserves to get the best of me and what I can offer her. 

Trying to find some good is really hard right now. Trying to be OK is really hard right now. Being away from my family is really hard right now.

When did it become okay to only offer your sister the support she needs and deserves via a video chat? When did it become okay to have to tell your 5-year-old daughter that her only and most cherished aunty might die and she might not get to see her again!?

Life is cruel, unjust and tough right now ... we shouldn't have to suffer in silence or be afraid to ask for help because you feel that nobody understands or empathises with your situation.

I don't ever ask for help, I put a smile on my face and carry on, but I am taking to the masses, asking friends, family and people i have never met, for help, for myself and daughter to get back to South Africa to be with my sister ... I don't know how long she has or what the future holds and what that might even look like. 

I just know that she is journeying through unchartered water and that even although she is putting on an amazing brave face and trying to be so positive, deep down she is scared and angry .... 

The funds raised will be used towards travel, quarantine and some daily spending for myself and daughter. All I know is that it would mean the world to two sisters to see each other again, and to a little girl to see her aunty again... before it's too late. 

The tricky thing is securing a flight and the approved ones happen only a few times in a month, so having the funds available to book and pay as soon as they are opened, is crucial.

I continue to pray for a miracle for her, I continue to have faith that everything will work out, and that Rebecca and I can get to her before it is too late.

Thank you for your time and support.

Love and light,

Amy & Rebecca