Help Kalaivani fight rare Ovarian cancer

About Kalaivani

Kalaivani, a proud mother of a 9-month old baby girl, is only 34 years old. Her journey into what should have been a joyful motherhood, has been nothing but challenging for both, her family and her, as she was diagnosed with Mucinous Carcinoma Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, right after delivery. Kalai, as she is affectionately known, has now been hospitalised for almost 2 months. She has not eaten solid food and has been put on total parenteral nutrition - TPN (dependant on a machine for 16 hours a day for food intake in fluid form). Worst of all, she is constantly in excruciating pain.

Mucinous Carcinoma is a rare form of ovarian cancer, with a very low response rate to ovarian chemotherapy. As such, we seek your benevolence and generosity, to enable Kalai to seek alternative treatments to beat and survive her battle with cancer. At the very least, we would like her to be able to spend as much quality time as possible with her family, and especially with her 9-month old baby.

How it all unfolded

A cyst was first detected in Kalai’s left ovary when she was 7 months pregnant with her first child, in the middle of last year. The gynaecologist advised against treatment or surgery at that time as it would be risky for the baby (assuming that the cysts will not be malignant). The delivery of the baby was then scheduled at 37 weeks, instead of a full term.

During the C-section, removal of the cysts was attempted. Unfortunately, the cysts ruptured. As Kalai had bad internal bleeding during the procedure, the gynaecologist aborted the procedure to remove the cysts. At that time, Kalai was told that the cysts could be removed 6 weeks later, allowing her time to recover from the childbirth.

However, 4 weeks after delivery, she had Ascites (a condition where fluid collects in spaces within the abdomen). Only then, the doctors started to check on the lab report from the cysts sample which was taken during C-section. The lab result came back with a diagnosis for Seromucinous Carcinoma A subsequent scan, revealed a large tumor on her left ovary with a size of approximately 11x w15.2x cc17.3cm.

At this point, the oncologist advised for a debulking surgery of the tumour and infected tissues, organs and lymphs. The surgery was done on the 26th of November 2020. During the surgery, they found that cancer has spread to the wall of the abdomen, classifying it as Stage 3c cancer. A sample taken during the surgery was sent for biopsy.

Unfortunately, the biopsy revealed more bad news. Kalai was actually having Mucinous Carcinoma and not Seromucinous Carcinoma. The difference between the two is that the former type of cancer has shown a low response rate to platinum-based ovarian chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the oncologist still advised her to give it a try.

Following 6 cycles of chemo treatment, PET scan showed the cancer was under control but 3 metastases the size of 1.4 x 1.2cm were found in the liver. There were also traces of the same in her large bowel and urinary tract. This is when it was diagnosed as Stage 4. The oncologist proposed another 3 cycles of chemotherapy with a maintenance drug called Avastin to control the growth of the cancer cells.

At this time Kalai started experiencing severe pain in the abdomen. PET scan found an infection in the abdomen wall. She was given 2-week doses of antibiotics and multiple painkillers. 8 days into the course, she had a bout of extreme vomiting and abdominal pain. She was rushed to the ER and immediately admitted into a covid quarantine ward for 2 days without any food, while enduring continuous vomiting and pain.

The doctors fixed an NG tube for her and monitored her for 2 weeks. A CT scan subsequently revealed an obstruction in the bowel - adhesions, which the oncologist explained was caused by the nature of the cancer cells. The cells had taken over the bowel, implying that the chemo did not work effectively and while the earlier PET scan was inaccurate! PETs are supposed to be 98% accurate. Some luck huh!

She remained under observation at the government hospital for 3 weeks. No surgery could be performed as the hospital was also managing the Covid situation. She was then transferred to a private hospital. After 4 days of being monitored, she had another surgery, her third surgery in 8 months. Her issues in the bowel were because the cancer cells were causing adhesion in the bowel, rectum and bladder. The mucinous nature of cancer ends up sticking everything together. The colorectal surgeon had to do a procedure to bypass the bowels and affixed a stoma. Alas, 10 days after surgery, the stoma stopped working and the vomiting persisted.

She is now back on the NG tube and experiences severe pain in the abdomen. The oncologist is currently performing chemotherapy using GI drugs (colon cancer) as studies have shown it has a better survival rate for her Mucinous Carcinoma Ovarian Cancer. However, this can only be done at a private hospital as government hospitals only use the mainstream treatment - treating ovarian cancer with ovarian chemotherapy drugs.

How you can help

Kalai's hospitalisation and aftercare are costing the family an exorbitant amount. Your kind donation will be used to:

• To support the cost for TPN administration for Kalai. A qualified nurse will be needed to administer the TPN.
• Proceed with GI chemotherapy cost in private hospital and any therapies and treatments that she subsequently needs.
• Control management using targeted drug.
• Prolong her life so she can spend time and create memorable moments with her family and her baby girl.
• Palliative care, to ease her quality of life and minimise her suffering.

Your donation will go a long way to help lift the crushing financial burden that the family is currently facing as the insurance coverage has reached the limit. The surplus will go to cancer research charity organisations.

Please share this fundraising page link with your family and friends. We truly appreciate your donation no matter how big or small. We hope this creates awareness and would like to thank everyone in advance for your generosity. No one should go through the pain that this young family is enduring.