Marie's Treatment Fund

Please help if you can x


Cancer is all over the media at the moment due to the cervical smear scandal. My heart really goes out to all of the woman who were incorrectly diagnosed. Everywhere I look there is someone with it. My mother and I even featured in an ad in 2017 for the Irish Cancer Society as part of an awareness campaign, as she had survived stage 1 breast cancer over 12 years ago.


Little did we know her cancer had already returned. In February 2018 we found my mother's cancer had not only returned but metastasized, meaning it has spread to multiple organs of her body, to name a few the hip, the spine, the spleen, the lungs and some in the ribs. Needless to say it is in the advanced stage. Luckily there is none in the brain or liver, which are common places for it to travel. The symptoms began with a pain in her hip just before Christmas which was initially scanned but nothing showed up as the scan was looking on the bone not through it, which is where the cancer hid. It was early February this year when the pain became so unbearable she had minimal mobility and was sent for an MRI. The tumour in the hip was too large to remove but she has since undergone radiation therapy to shrink all of the tumours in the affected areas and is on chemotherapy treatment to keep it at bay.


After being in and out of hospital as an inpatient for weeks on end, a trip to a&e, multiple scans and medication trials we have got to a point where her treatment is beginning to stabilize and work for her. We are now focussing on rehabilitation and pain management. The cancer is not curable but is treatable. There are many factors that will influence the success of keeping the cancer at bay, some of these factors include getting the right treatment at the right time that works best alongside the other medications, having a positive state of mind and the ability to adapt to a new lifestyle as a person living with mets.


The medication treatment plan is being managed by her amazing team in St. Vincent’s Hospital, she thankfully has always invested in health insurance which covers the majority of her treatments. However there are still many other costs such as MRI scans etc that are not covered by the insurance. We of course would like for her to not worry about any of these costs that are building up, as you can imagine it is unlikely she will be taking up full time employment any time soon. This fund will go towards the additional treatment costs and scans not covered by the insurance, as part of her rehabilitation we also would like her to have some independence again and be able to get from A to B as she pleases. At the moment her car is for sale since the news as it is not accessible for her anymore, she now requires a fully adapted car to suit her needs. If you can, please put something towards these goals we have for her, it will be much appreciated and hopefully enable her to get to a point where the cancer is no longer a primary focus in her life. <3


Love to all of you so far who have gone above and beyond to help make adapting to this new lifestyle that little bit easier for her.


Lisa & Wendy x