Hello Friends, Family and all loved ones!

As you may know, my awesome little sister Audrey was diagnosed in Together April 2023 with Stage 4 colon cancer and secondary liver cancer. She has been fighting for many months from her home of several years (Honolulu, Hawaii) and has been unable to work during her battle. She was hoping to wrap up treatment by the end of the year but had some major delays due to insurance.

She has also developed anemia, and neuropathy in her hands and lower legs/feet which is a new challenge to everyday life. Neuropathy normally presents itself during the chemotherapy infusion period, but her case is one of the rare situations where it increased months later, even after stopping the particular drug early in her chemo regimen.

The good news is that she was able to complete nine of the twelve prescribed chemo cycles and had a great response to the treatment. Her original prognosis was devastating; she was told that, at her age and this advanced stage, it would likely be aggressive and there was only a 5% chance that she would survive past the next 5 years. However, the systemic chemotherapy has been very effective for her so this indicates a much higher chance for her to beat it!

In late October, she also had a successful operation to remove her sigmoid colon, tumors in the left lobe of the liver, and 25 lymph nodes. There will be two more procedures necessary; the first will promote the growth of liver tissue so that there is more volume available for when they operate on her right lobe later. This is important since the right lobe has numerous tumors of various sizes and therefore they will be more difficult to remove. Once she has recovered from that surgery, she will probably continue a few more cycles of chemotherapy in early 2024. After that, her medical team anticipates that she will be done treatment, but of course, will be closely monitored to make sure that it does not return to her liver and metastasize to the lungs or brain.

Unfortunately, this lengthy process has been very emotionally and financially draining. Her disability insurance has expired, and due to the urgency and logistics of the situation, she is currently not eligible for government benefits or able to move back to Canada. She is also required to travel to San Francisco soon as there is no specialist in Hawaii for one of the procedures.

Audrey told me that many of her loved ones have asked how to help. She was doing okay then, and did not really know what she needed (even her favorite thing, FOOD, was not very desirable while sick on chemo). I would love it if anyone would be willing to donate in support of her regular living expenses, bills and healthcare costs. This has been quite a trial for her and our family but we are optimistic that she will rebound in 2024.

We understand that this is a hard time for many and budgets are extra tight during the holiday season. If you would like to support her in other ways, please consider these alternatives:

⦁ Donate blood to www.bbh.org/mauistrong/ or your local blood bank. Take a photo and tag her! She is feeling especially passionate about this recently as she needed one unit transfused during her major surgery and has been looking for a way to also support victims of the Maui Wildfires.

⦁ Donate flight or hotel credits

⦁ Amazon credit or giftcards hanging around? Check out her wishlist at https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/UTPRWCV7E8XZ?ref_=wl_share

⦁ Sam's Club, grocery store or grocery/food delivery coupons...she loves a deal!

⦁ Purchase a Red Light package for yourself and mention her name. She will get 3 free sessions! www.redlighthealing.com/

⦁ Drop food off, especially after the next major surgery

⦁ Send her a personal email with updates and photos about your life to [email redacted]

⦁ Wish her a happy 40th birthday on December 12th!

⦁ Prayer, of course :)

⦁ Share this link with others

Thank you so much for your care and consideration. We have a prayer team working towards my Sister’s health as well! We are so touched by the many people offering support even many of those who have never met her. Your support and prayers have been a huge motivation for her and she is eternally grateful in spite of this life-changing event.

If you have any questions, please contact myself, her older sister Albertina Joy Hurtubise [nee. Haerle] at [email redacted] or [email redacted] or via Facebook Messenger Albertina Haerle or Barry Albertina accounts.