Breast cancer patient's research: Project Bruce

Kaitlin Baggott organiseert deze actie.

Beschermde donatie

Hi, my name is Kaity. I am a 33 year old mother of two young boys, geochemistry PhD student, and breast cancer patient. I have completed chemotherapy (4 AC and 12 taxol). On the 10th of May I will get a double mastectomy with full right axillary (lymph node) clearance, followed by radiation and 10+ years of hormone therapy and induced menopause.

Please support my research goal to fire lasers at cancer to try and prevent future cancer deaths.

Why do we care? As a breast cancer patient, I am VERY interested in research that helps us understand the mechanisms that might kill us. We die when breast cancer spreads elsewhere (becomes metastatic). Breast cancer patients whose tumours are associated with microcalcifications/boob rocks* tend to have worse outcomes, and we don’t fully know why. We also don’t fully understand how bone becomes more hospitable to cancer cells.

I have a phenomenal research support team behind me with skills including bone elemental mapping, and isotope and synchrotron (particle accelerator) analysis.

We aim to apply established geoscience techniques to investigate:

a) Feedback mechanisms between cancer and microcalcifications

b) How and why breast cancer cells adapt to our bones

Our 14-year-old dog, Bruce, passed away a month ago. I am scared of cancer and heartbroken at the loss of our dog: but as a researcher, I am fascinated by the data and opportunities to solve challenging problems. My Husband agreed to donate Bruce to science.

Colleagues have kindly preserved Bruce, but I have to get him prepared for research, so his bones and tumours can be analysed.

I would greatly appreciate support with initial research costs, as I hope this will lead to ongoing research. Costs will include sample preparation, microCT analysis, SEM and other lab consumables, instrument time, open access fees for papers and possibly conference fees.

The best thing about cancer has been meeting so many incredible people and learning from them. We all want more time. Time to watch our kids grow up, meet our grandbabies, and help look after our parents when they are old. Time to solve problems.