Jodie's fight for more time
Donation protected
My name is Jodie Cox, I am fifty years old, very active and I was an Account Manager for an insurance company. My life was on track, I’m a proud mother of two beautiful daughters and a grandmother to five wonderfully mischievous grandkids ranging from 9 months up to 15 years. I was very health conscious, some people thought too health conscious! I avoided fatty and sugary foods and the gym was my second home! One day I had trouble sleeping and I couldn’t figure out why and so I decided to pay a visit to the local doctor to see if we could find out what was wrong.
My entire world was rocked that day. The doctor became concerned with my condition and so began my new life of tests and therapy. We discovered that I had Advanced Progressive Small Cell Lung Cancer, to which there is no cure. So, I began to live on borrowed time, the cancer was spread throughout my entire body – infecting my lungs, bones, brain, liver and essentially every other major organ. I began radiation therapy not long after that diagnosis but took a six month break from Radiation to engage with Palliative Care Chemotherapy to try and improve my quality of life. I have now been recommended for a drug known as Pembrolizumab which would cost four and a half thousand dollars a dosage, which I would be able to start on the 15th of April 2019 - should I get the money in time. The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has been an unexpected joy to my life, as odd as that sounds. They have provided me with the love and care that I would hope anyone in a similar situation would have and I will sing their praises to anyone who chooses to listen. Despite all of their care, the doctors weren’t sure whether I would be able to get to my fiftieth birthday, but I have always been a fighter. So, I made sure that I was. Then I got to Christmas. Then my grand-daughter’s birthday. Now I am going to make sure that I get to Mother’s Day and as many more events and celebrations that I can be around for. I never made a bucket list and I don’t think that I am going to start now, however, I want to spend my remaining time on this earth ticking off items on all of my families and friends bucket list so that even though my body won’t live on, my memories will. The doctors have given me twelve months, and whilst I don’t plan on letting cancer take me willingly, I have started to live my life as if every day was my last and the one thing I have learnt is that the hustle and bustle in life distracts us from the little things. Spending time with my friends and family, having conversations with strangers and interacting with others with an unabated sense of love has proven to be some of my most cherished moments since my diagnosis. It truly is the little things in life that have some of the greatest impact when you are living on borrowed time.
Thank you so much for your support.
Because l have a rare cancer, the treatment that my oncologist has recommended is not on the PBS, as such cost $4.5 thousand per treatment every three weeks on going.
It wii not cure me, however it will prolong my life, giving me valuable time with me family and friends.
We need to rally the government to allow this medicine to be free for everyone.
In fact all treatment for cancer to be FREE.
My entire world was rocked that day. The doctor became concerned with my condition and so began my new life of tests and therapy. We discovered that I had Advanced Progressive Small Cell Lung Cancer, to which there is no cure. So, I began to live on borrowed time, the cancer was spread throughout my entire body – infecting my lungs, bones, brain, liver and essentially every other major organ. I began radiation therapy not long after that diagnosis but took a six month break from Radiation to engage with Palliative Care Chemotherapy to try and improve my quality of life. I have now been recommended for a drug known as Pembrolizumab which would cost four and a half thousand dollars a dosage, which I would be able to start on the 15th of April 2019 - should I get the money in time. The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has been an unexpected joy to my life, as odd as that sounds. They have provided me with the love and care that I would hope anyone in a similar situation would have and I will sing their praises to anyone who chooses to listen. Despite all of their care, the doctors weren’t sure whether I would be able to get to my fiftieth birthday, but I have always been a fighter. So, I made sure that I was. Then I got to Christmas. Then my grand-daughter’s birthday. Now I am going to make sure that I get to Mother’s Day and as many more events and celebrations that I can be around for. I never made a bucket list and I don’t think that I am going to start now, however, I want to spend my remaining time on this earth ticking off items on all of my families and friends bucket list so that even though my body won’t live on, my memories will. The doctors have given me twelve months, and whilst I don’t plan on letting cancer take me willingly, I have started to live my life as if every day was my last and the one thing I have learnt is that the hustle and bustle in life distracts us from the little things. Spending time with my friends and family, having conversations with strangers and interacting with others with an unabated sense of love has proven to be some of my most cherished moments since my diagnosis. It truly is the little things in life that have some of the greatest impact when you are living on borrowed time.
Thank you so much for your support.
Because l have a rare cancer, the treatment that my oncologist has recommended is not on the PBS, as such cost $4.5 thousand per treatment every three weeks on going.
It wii not cure me, however it will prolong my life, giving me valuable time with me family and friends.
We need to rally the government to allow this medicine to be free for everyone.
In fact all treatment for cancer to be FREE.
Organizer
Jodie Carter
Organizer
Melbourne, VIC