"Lisa and Family Climb Some Unexpected Mountains, 2024-25"

Dear Friends,

As you probably know by now, after a couple of years of post-Covid ‘burn-out fatigue’, I was recently delivered two very unexpected and pretty serious health challenges: concurrent diagnoses of DLBC Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and a HR+ve DI breast cancer.

Both problems were incidental finds on scans. My bloodwork has for years been consistently ‘perfectly normal’.

Lymphoma is on a steep up-curve in the ‘post’ pandemic era.

I’m now in the very good care of the experts at the Kinghorn Centre, St Vincent’s hospital, Sydney, with all kinds of support from many wonderful old friends down here.

My doctors have inspired confidence and hope that my conditions are curable; that they can ‘fix me’. I will be doing everything in the known universe to support this healing and my recovery to happen.

I want to be an old woman one day!

My first treatment pattern will be 6 rounds of R-CHOP21 chemotherapy, once every 3 weeks. I had the first hit last week. It’s hardcore, but so far so good. After these 18 weeks and some rest I will undergo some surgery as well. By the end of the year hopefully I'll be able to look ahead at clear horizons. I may even have some hair again.

We have been working hard with friends to set things up in Sydney and Alice Springs to minimize family disruptions, but the distances and upheavals are not insignificant.

Basil is currently steering the ship at Gosse St, with amazing community support.

A great blessing - our beloved au pair from 2018 wants to return to Alice to help the family in my absence from home. We want to help her to get here (visa and travel costs) and to keep her going for several months at least (weekly pay, about 20 hours pw).

Family reunions, when safe and possible for me to return home for breaks, or for the family to visit me, are also highest priority. It’s heartbreaking to be separated from Luca, Anouk, and Basil as this story unfolds.

We aren’t very high-income earners and will be running at a loss to make all these things happen.

For now, I'm still working, online, in a job I love at the very supportive and most excellent organisation Children's Ground (check them out online if you don't know them already). It’s possible that as my treatment progresses my work capacity and income could be impacted to some degree for a little while.

I'm launching this fundraiser to try to ease the financial strains of this time on our family. No expectations of donations, of course — we know it’s not an easy economic time for many people.

If you don’t have any spare money but have any soon-to-expire or excess frequent flyer miles on any airline, they would also be very helpful. Just be in touch.

With heartfelt thanks,

Lisa

PS * Important *

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