Help Matty fight cancer
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Matt had a colonoscopy on 8th September, where they found a tumour in his bowel. They sent it off for urgent testing and he was diagnosed with bowel cancer on the 12th of September.
He met with surgeon Dr Iain Skinner in the following weeks. He explained to Matt that they wouldn't know which stage it was at until they operate. We were due to marry/elope on 28th September, however due to surgery, we weren't sure it would go ahead. It was the least of our worries anyhow. Matt explained it to Dr Skinner and he told us to get married and continue life as normal to take the stress away. It was a slow growing tumour and could have been growing in him for around anywhere drom 2 to 10 years now, without Matt's knowledge. We got married and Matt's surgery was booked in for Friday the 13th October. However it was postponed to Sunday 15th October due to an emergency which took proirity. Matt's tumour was removed successfully. However they had found affected lymphnodes in the area. They removed 17 lymphnodes, 11 of which were cancerous. If only 3 lymphnodes are affected, it's deemed as stage 3C, meaning he is one stage away from nearly terminal (11% chance of being cured) so he was well into it. He was in hospital for 6 days after surgery and was told he would not be able to return to work for a minimum of 6 weeks if it was early stages and didn't require further treatment, ie; chemotherapy, etc.
Matt started chemo on 27th November 6 weeks after the surgery wound had healed enough to begin. He is now in his 3rd cycle of 8, which will take 6 months in total. And that's only if his body can tolerate it and if the chemo works. He has been off work for going on 4 months now. Chemo has him bedridden most days and because the side effects are unpredictable, he has had to leave his job as a diesel tanker driver (around $60k a year). His meds are $80 per week and he is not eligible for a health care card through Centrelink, let alone any form of payment from them (sickness payment or otherwise). I'm working full time to support myself, Matt and Axel. With my pay alone, we're living paycheck to paycheck and have chewed through over $10k in savings and family support just to live some sort of normal lifestyle as others do whilst in the process of seeing specialists, getting medications, being recently eloped and having xmas for the first time as parents, aswell as the phychological effects this whole ordeal has caused him to often pass up invitations to go out with his mates as finances are becoming increasingly tight and we will soon be struggling to make ends meet for basic necessities. The surgeon has told matt without chemo he has a 30% chance if survival and with and with chemo a 60% chance, but to matt is not an option as he has too much to live for.
He met with surgeon Dr Iain Skinner in the following weeks. He explained to Matt that they wouldn't know which stage it was at until they operate. We were due to marry/elope on 28th September, however due to surgery, we weren't sure it would go ahead. It was the least of our worries anyhow. Matt explained it to Dr Skinner and he told us to get married and continue life as normal to take the stress away. It was a slow growing tumour and could have been growing in him for around anywhere drom 2 to 10 years now, without Matt's knowledge. We got married and Matt's surgery was booked in for Friday the 13th October. However it was postponed to Sunday 15th October due to an emergency which took proirity. Matt's tumour was removed successfully. However they had found affected lymphnodes in the area. They removed 17 lymphnodes, 11 of which were cancerous. If only 3 lymphnodes are affected, it's deemed as stage 3C, meaning he is one stage away from nearly terminal (11% chance of being cured) so he was well into it. He was in hospital for 6 days after surgery and was told he would not be able to return to work for a minimum of 6 weeks if it was early stages and didn't require further treatment, ie; chemotherapy, etc.
Matt started chemo on 27th November 6 weeks after the surgery wound had healed enough to begin. He is now in his 3rd cycle of 8, which will take 6 months in total. And that's only if his body can tolerate it and if the chemo works. He has been off work for going on 4 months now. Chemo has him bedridden most days and because the side effects are unpredictable, he has had to leave his job as a diesel tanker driver (around $60k a year). His meds are $80 per week and he is not eligible for a health care card through Centrelink, let alone any form of payment from them (sickness payment or otherwise). I'm working full time to support myself, Matt and Axel. With my pay alone, we're living paycheck to paycheck and have chewed through over $10k in savings and family support just to live some sort of normal lifestyle as others do whilst in the process of seeing specialists, getting medications, being recently eloped and having xmas for the first time as parents, aswell as the phychological effects this whole ordeal has caused him to often pass up invitations to go out with his mates as finances are becoming increasingly tight and we will soon be struggling to make ends meet for basic necessities. The surgeon has told matt without chemo he has a 30% chance if survival and with and with chemo a 60% chance, but to matt is not an option as he has too much to live for.
Organizer
Chris Fullwood
Organizer
Cocoroc VIC
