Help Carly's breast cancer battle

As some of you are aware, the last few years have been really tough on our family.

After losing our beautiful sister Jade at only 40 years of age in July 2020 to triple-negative breast cancer, we found out that 2 of our other sisters, Amanda (my older sister) and my twin Carly, also carried the BRCA1 gene mutation. Unfortunately, Carly’s baseline MRI in October 2020 detected a suspicious tumour which was excised and confirmed as a triple negative ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) in the left breast – Carly was only 27 years old at the time.

Six monthly appointments, MRIs, scans and check-ups allowed specialists to closely watch and monitor Carly, as having the BRCA1 gene mutation increases the risk of a carrier developing breast cancer by 65% and ovarian cancer by 40% above the average population risk. Carly’s risk was increased even further due to the fact that she was first diagnosed with breast cancer at such a young age.

Unfortunately, within the last two weeks, a new painful lump in the right breast revealed a triple negative grade 3 invasive breast carcinoma. Given the nature of this cancer, things have had to move really fast in order to treat and respond to this aggressive, fast-growing tumor before the cancer spreads outside the breast. Carly is now facing staging scans to ensure the cancer hasn’t spread to other areas of the body. She will then undergo surgery to remove this cancer as well as surrounding lymph nodes. This will be followed by intensive chemotherapy then a bilateral mastectomy. On top of this, to allow Carly to have children in the future, she must undergo an urgent round of IVF for egg harvesting as the chemotherapy will damage her ovaries, and they may never recover. Unfortunately, Medicare do not cover egg harvesting when it is required due to chemotherapy, and Carly has been told by her health fund that she is not covered for this, meaning she will be left substantially out of pocket financially (made even more difficult as she is not eligible for sick leave at work).

All donations gratefully received will be used to assist Carly in undergoing the necessary urgent egg harvesting she needs to have to enable her to preserve her eggs. This will allow her the opportunity to still have the family she desperately wants after she recovers from the huge cancer journey she is about to embark on, as well as assist her financially with medical travel expenses during the period she cannot work. Any additional donation will also go towards her bilateral life-saving mastectomy, which unfortunately is also not entirely covered by Medicare.

Breast cancer isn't a disease that only affects older women - it can affect anyone at any age.

Thank you so much for your positive thoughts and your generosity on behalf of Carly and her loved ones. This will be a big journey for Carly, and we are all here to get her through this every step of the way. We are so grateful for the support around us and for the medical teams that are caring for her.

Thank you so much to everyone who has previously donated and continues to support breast cancer and its research