Help Lisa's Stage 4 cervical cancer fight

My fiancé Lisa is the most kind, selfless and loving person I have ever known. She is an absolutely luminous person and has opened up my life and heart in ways I only ever dreamed of and I cannot wait to call myself her husband.

Less than a month ago, out of the blue, we received news of her cervical cancer diagnosis. She had gone to the GP with a sore upper leg, thinking she had pulled a muscle. The GP sent her for an ultrasound. We were not prepared for the results that came back.

Yesterday the cancer was officially characterised as Stage 4B; we received written confirmation that it has now spread through her pelvis and into her hip bone. The cancer has also spread into her lymph nodes, including those in her neck and near her lungs.

However, there is still hope. Please help us in our fight.

With aggressive treatment we will be able to shrink the advanced 7cm tumour on her cervix and help slow the spread. They cannot currently operate due to the size of the tumour. Pending response to the treatment there is a chance a small part of the tumour could be removed by surgery and her life will be prolonged.

Lisa's doctors have explained that her cancer will not be cured. Quality of life is paramount as she begins treatment as we do not know how she will respond to the treatment. Even so, there is still so much to live for.

The 4cm metastases on her hip socket completely replaces the bone. We hope this can be brought under control, however Lisa is now beginning to rely on crutches to move. Walking is extremely painful.

Lisa began radiation treatment last week and she will start chemotherapy on October 15.

Lisa has lived and worked in Australia for seven years but as an Italian non-Australian citizen, she is unable to access Medicare. Despite paying high premiums, her personal health insurance is extremely limited and does not cover outpatient services, due to the fact that there were very few policies available to foreign workers when she took it out. We still anticipate that the medical bills ahead of us will soon overwhelm us. In addition to the initial 4 weeks of daily outpatient radiation therapy, Lisa is scheduled to receive outpatient chemotherapy for at least 6 months, followed by more radiation if she responds to the chemotherapy well. There will also be regular outpatient MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds and blood tests, as well as hospital-arranged counselling sessions. Lisa recently spent a week in hospital to manage her pain and we still do not know what the bill for this will be. We will be updating this page to let everyone know these things progress.

It’s hard to write these things as it feels like only yesterday we were going to open house viewings excited at the prospect of buying our first home together, making plans for marriage and starting a family. It feels like our whole lives have been shattered.

We now know that starting a family together is not a possibility and with medical expenses purchasing a home is also not going to be possible. We are however planning to wed on October 30th which is something joyous we are very much looking forward to. With current COVID restrictions in Melbourne and Lisa’s health it will be a very small and intimate ceremony at my parent’s home (please note none of the funds raised here will be put toward the wedding). Lisa is very close to her family, but due to COVID restrictions in Australia they are currently unable to travel from Italy to be with her, which has been heartbreaking on all sides. Despite these challenges we are looking forward to this special day and hope we may share many more together with our families in years to come.

Many people have asked us what they can do to help. For those who know Lisa, she is a very private, stoic person and would be the last one to ask for assistance. Unfortunately it is likely with the steep medical bills ahead of us that we are going to need all the assistance we can get.

All proceeds will contribute to her ongoing medical expenses and to aid in her recovery.

Any and all donations will be deeply appreciated.

We will keep you all informed as to her progress.

Much love and thank you,

Taylor