Chrissy's Terminal Cancer Treatment

Hi Everybody I asked my beautiful friend Chrissy to write a bit of her story for you all to read. This was what she wrote...

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story and I apologize in advance if it is a tad depressing.

I am 42 years old and 3 years ago, I had what I would call the perfect life. Back in 2009 I married the love of my life - Neil. We met back i 2006 and it was one of those soppy 'love at first sight' kind of moments. After trying in vain to have a baby in 2013 we finally had our beautiful girl Mia! After her birth, I had some persisting bleeding. I had heard this was normal and as I felt great , I didn't get too concerned. I was due to go back to my job as a high school teacher in March 2014 and we decided to get this bleeding investigated before the reality of working life would once again consume my life.

The night before my appointment, I suddenly hemorrhaged and things moved pretty quickly from then on. I was diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer which was inoperable for me due to the spread into ligaments and lymph nodes in the groin. From February until September I had various treatments, such as radiation, chemotherapy and Brachy therapy which is internal radiation and was then declared cancer FREE!! It was a miracle. However, six months later the cancer was back and this time it had spread to lymph nodes in my chest which meant that it was now terminal.

I still soldiered on with my trusted old friend- chemotherapy aided by a drug called Avastin. At that stage this drug was not on the PBS so it was costing us $1500 every 3 weeks. Due to some persistent stomach ulcers, I had to stop treatment for 3 months and the cancer spread again to some lymph nodes in my other groin. After exhausting all treatments available, I am now on a new wonder drug called Keytruda. This is a drug that enables your immune system to fight the cancer. I have been on it for 4 months and the great news is that my cancer is inactive. The bad news is that I have to stay on this drug forever or until the cancer finds a way around it and it is costing us $4500 every 3 weeks!!

You might have heard that people with melanoma or lung cancer can get this drug on the PBS but unfortunately it is not yet on the PBS for cervical cancer.

This is where I am asking for your help. I would love to see my little girl go to school and see the person that she will grow up to be but at this rate, the money will run out at a certain point and the cancer will once again wake up and march through my body until it finally gets the better of me. As it stands, a new lymphnote has just popped up in my neck so hopefully the Keytruda can put that one to sleep as well.

So, thank you for reading this, some what long, essay and for anything you might be able to contribute, we are eternally grateful.