Carina going through VHL & Brain Surgery

** GUYS..... YOUR SUPPORT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. YOU HAVE ALL HAD CARINA IN FLOODS OF TEARS ALL WEEK! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR DONATIONS AND SUPPORT MEAN TO THIS FAMILY. I STARTED THIS HOPING FOR US TO BE ABLE TO CHIP IN AND RELIEVE A TINY BIT OF THE BURDEN THEY ARE FACING BUT YOUR GENOROSITY HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE AND I AM HOPING NOW THAT INSTEAD OF CHIPPING AWAY WE CAN ACTUALLY TAKE A BIG CHUNK OF STRESS AWAY DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!**

Hi, My name is Ebony and I met Carina over 15 years ago whilst we were both pregnant with our first babies on a hospital tour. I was instantly drawn to her positivity and enthusiasm for life. She made things happen and was driven and motivated. Her family quickly became part of ours.

In 2010 I received a phone call that I will never forget. Whilst in the first trimester with her second child, Carina called me with chilling news that her relentless headaches were actually a golf ball sized tumor. They cut open the entire back of her skull and successfully removed the tumor. Carina and her baby boy were thankfully OK.

Over the next few months, Carina was diagnosed with Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL), another blow to this young woman in her 20's, with two young babies. But she has always taken every blow in her stride and looked for the positives!!

Come 2015, Carina was again in Brisbane to remove a tumor in her spinal cord. Her mindset was incredibly inspiring. She was focused on health and fitness so that she could recover as quickly as possible for her family.

In 2021 just weeks before her wedding to Chuck, they were hit again with some more devastating news. Her now husband Chuck's sore leg turned out to be an extremely rare bone cancer. They made the hard decision to pack up their lives in Rockhampton and relocate to Brisbane so that they could be closer to the major hospitals and care. Chuck ( a former Personal Trainer and only in his early 20's) did not respond to any treatment so then had to have a full knee, and half femur replacement with the removal of 3/4 of his quad muscle. During this time Carina's health concerns were pushed to the side so that she could work to support her family and support Chuck's rehabilitation where he had to LEARN TO WALK again, find a new career path/passion and identity. Chuck requires ongoing checks for metastasis.

Come 2022 Chuck was on the mend. Carina was now facing Kidney Cancer. A few months later in 2022 she had partial nephrectomy and her gall bladder removed. Never, not once, when she is hit with blow after blow have I ever heard 'Why me?'

She is straight into focusing on her children being ok, her family being ok, and being as healthy as possible so that she can recover as quickly as possible for her family.

This year Carina has had an unusual lung image but at this stage, they are just monitoring this. Her focus was here, she wasn't expecting what came next.

You would think this young family and her children have had more than their fair share of heartache but no, again life had more to throw at them. Recently Carina was suffering from unbearable headaches and a scan showed that she has a very large tumor behind her ear which is in the balance and coordination area of the brain. She has to go in very quickly, THIS WEEK, to have it removed.

Her children have had their lives turned upside-down multiple times and are now in gr 7 and 10 doing mid-term exams, trying to settle into a new school this year. She has 2 weeks leave that she can access and Chuck has only just been able to restart his PT business. The minute he heard about the operation, he was applying for a second job, packing shelves, anything. This would not be ideal though, as he will need to be home to look after Carina during recovery and the kids.

The risks of each surgery are HUGE, and life-changing, but Carina will never tell you about them. Her focus is on getting better and beating whatever is in the way.

They have no income protection insurance and are still trying to recover from moving to Brisbane, job changes, school changes and Chuck's life-altering surgery.

Carina NEVER asks for help, never seeks sympathy, NEVER lets these blows get her family down. She is the definition of resilience, of determination, of strength and courage. Carina always tries to juggle 100 balls and figure it out. I swear the girl would be trying to work in ICU if she could. But, I know they are struggling, I know these constant blows are crippling her family. I know that in the back of her mind she knows that she also has over 20 other brain tumors and multiple in her spinal chord too that they are monitoring.

This is a long journey. And it is tough when you are trying to do it on your own. It is even harder when you get continually hit time and time again. The way Chuck and Carina support each other is truly inspiring.

If you can spare anything, I would love to be able to help relieve some of the financial stress for this family so that Carina can recover properly, without the heart wretching worries, without pushing herself back to work before she can manage it. I have put $2000 as a goal, which would just about cover the rent for a month. One less thing to worry about...

Please SHARE and thank you for taking the time to read xx