BRUCEY’S FIGHT AGAINST CANCER!
Donation protected
Hi All, I am setting this fund up to help Brucey fight this stomach cancer (the type of cancer he has is called adenocarcinoma) he has recently been diagnosed with. Due to the severity of the cancer Bruce has had to undergo chemo immediately with the hope of shrinking the tumour. He was diagnosed on 27th November 2017 the day he found out he was at the specialist confirming his booking for surgery on his neck the following day due to the serve neck pain he lives with everyday, they were going to be performing a disc replacement in his neck but whilst at the doctors Jugsy (Julie) was at home not feeling well herself and couldn’t attend Bruce’s doctors appointment with him however it was meant to be as she received the dreaded call from the gastroenterologist about Bruce’s diagnosis, they advised Jugs she needed to call the doctor where Bruce was and advise him to cancel that surgery due to the bad news. More tests and further bad news Bruce had to commence chemo on the 15th December 2017. The chemo Brucey is having is called FLOT and is apparently one of the highest forms of chemo used for patients with this type of cancer. Bruce has this every fortnight on a Monday from approx. 8am until 3.30pm and then comes home with a bottle full of it to go into his system throughout the night and the next day until approx. 3.30pm at 1.30pm Jugs injects him with neulasta which boosts the white blood cells and helps to fight infection he then goes back to the Cancer centre for a top up of chemo for an hour on the Tuesday. Bruce has energy on these two days of chemo however from Wednesday on for about a week he is vey sick, tired, nauseous and not his normal happy self :-(
Bruce has already had 3 chemo sessions over the past 6 weeks and is due for his last one on Monday 5th Feb 2018 after this session they will wait the fortnight and then he will have an endoscopy to see how and if the chemo has worked, following that he will be taken to theatre where they will perform a laparoscopy where they will check the adrenals and the lymph nodes (which are very suspicious) if the chemo has worked on these areas they will operate immediately and remove 80% of his stomach and glands. Bruce will have no idea if they perform the operation until he wakes up and he will either have a very large wound across his upper stomach which means they were able to operate or a small incision showing that there has been no improvement. If Brucey wakes up with a large wound this is promising however will be a long road ahead for them, he will then have 6 weeks to heal from the operation and then start another round of chemo for 8 weeks depending on the results and progress along the way if all going to plan he could then have another 8 week intense bout of chemo. If Brucey wakes up with a small incision this would be absolutely devastating for him and his beloved Jugs.
With Bruce having chemo he is unable to reach a temp of 38 degrees otherwise an ambulance is to be called immediately, the other day he reached 37.4 and poor Jugs was in a panic putting ice packs on him and cool towel to try and keep his temp down. They do have air con in the lounge room but it would be helpful to have one in their bedroom to keep him cool in this dreaded heat we have been experiencing. Also the injections he requires on his chemo days cost $1,490 per injection and he needs 4 of these each fortnight, they do get some money back but not the whole amount still being out of pocket by $600 per injection (total $2,400 per fortnight).
Being friends with Jugs since I was 2 and then becoming best of friends from the age of 14 we have had a lifetime of memories to treasure however to see them suffering like this is heartbreaking. Knowing what Jugs herself has been through over all these years has been hard and with her health never returning back to normal the struggles have just kept coming with 30 major abdominal surgeries an ileostomy bag and over the last 3 years she has been suffering with pseudomonas infection in her legs from continuous morphine injections because of chronic pain, she has had to have 7 operations on her legs due to this infection and she still continues to battle this each and every day. Now with having her soul mate, best friend and carer get dealt with cancer the real battle has just begun and I would truly love to try and make a little difference in their life and assist them with some of these expenses. Even if I could raise enough money to buy them an air con in their bedroom and/ or pay for some of their medical expenses because with everything above and even though they have private health cover, the medical expenses and normal living expenses becomes a battle when Bruce is no longer able to work.
Due to Jugsy’s illness for what seems her whole life time, Bruce has predominately been the sole provider for the two of them, with Jugs when she’s up for it doing a little bit of hairdressing on the side to help make ends meet.
Therefore if you could lend a hand to assist them through this tough time I know this would take some pressure off them.
I will keep updated with Bruce’s progress.
Bruce & Jugsy’s little saying to each other is “Our love will pull us through this, as we still love each other after 19 years”.
I truly appreciate any support that you can offer them.
Lots of love
Jayne xx
Brucey start of chemo
Brucey 3rd round of chemo
Brucey & his beautiful Mumma Gina <3
Bruce has already had 3 chemo sessions over the past 6 weeks and is due for his last one on Monday 5th Feb 2018 after this session they will wait the fortnight and then he will have an endoscopy to see how and if the chemo has worked, following that he will be taken to theatre where they will perform a laparoscopy where they will check the adrenals and the lymph nodes (which are very suspicious) if the chemo has worked on these areas they will operate immediately and remove 80% of his stomach and glands. Bruce will have no idea if they perform the operation until he wakes up and he will either have a very large wound across his upper stomach which means they were able to operate or a small incision showing that there has been no improvement. If Brucey wakes up with a large wound this is promising however will be a long road ahead for them, he will then have 6 weeks to heal from the operation and then start another round of chemo for 8 weeks depending on the results and progress along the way if all going to plan he could then have another 8 week intense bout of chemo. If Brucey wakes up with a small incision this would be absolutely devastating for him and his beloved Jugs.
With Bruce having chemo he is unable to reach a temp of 38 degrees otherwise an ambulance is to be called immediately, the other day he reached 37.4 and poor Jugs was in a panic putting ice packs on him and cool towel to try and keep his temp down. They do have air con in the lounge room but it would be helpful to have one in their bedroom to keep him cool in this dreaded heat we have been experiencing. Also the injections he requires on his chemo days cost $1,490 per injection and he needs 4 of these each fortnight, they do get some money back but not the whole amount still being out of pocket by $600 per injection (total $2,400 per fortnight).
Being friends with Jugs since I was 2 and then becoming best of friends from the age of 14 we have had a lifetime of memories to treasure however to see them suffering like this is heartbreaking. Knowing what Jugs herself has been through over all these years has been hard and with her health never returning back to normal the struggles have just kept coming with 30 major abdominal surgeries an ileostomy bag and over the last 3 years she has been suffering with pseudomonas infection in her legs from continuous morphine injections because of chronic pain, she has had to have 7 operations on her legs due to this infection and she still continues to battle this each and every day. Now with having her soul mate, best friend and carer get dealt with cancer the real battle has just begun and I would truly love to try and make a little difference in their life and assist them with some of these expenses. Even if I could raise enough money to buy them an air con in their bedroom and/ or pay for some of their medical expenses because with everything above and even though they have private health cover, the medical expenses and normal living expenses becomes a battle when Bruce is no longer able to work.
Due to Jugsy’s illness for what seems her whole life time, Bruce has predominately been the sole provider for the two of them, with Jugs when she’s up for it doing a little bit of hairdressing on the side to help make ends meet.
Therefore if you could lend a hand to assist them through this tough time I know this would take some pressure off them.
I will keep updated with Bruce’s progress.
Bruce & Jugsy’s little saying to each other is “Our love will pull us through this, as we still love each other after 19 years”.
I truly appreciate any support that you can offer them.
Lots of love
Jayne xx
Brucey start of chemo
Brucey 3rd round of chemo
Brucey & his beautiful Mumma Gina <3
Organizer
Jayne Young
Organizer
Helensvale QLD
