One last hope….Immunotherapy treatment for Simone

In December of 2020 I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. I was 35 years old and had two daughters aged 1 and 6 at the time. The medical prognosis was that my life wouldn’t last more than a year. It’s been nearly two years since then and I have fought hard every single day with every tool in my kit.

At the start of this year I was told the cancer had spread to my lungs, liver and brain along with the lymph nodes, bones and of course breast from my initial diagnosis. The only option given to ‘prolong’ my life was harsh chemotherapy.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see through the course of chemotherapy as it was putting me at great risk of immediate death. I was hospitalised many times with extremely low platelets alongside other serious side effects.

This isn’t the end of my story. My fight continues. I am fighting for my life and fighting for my daughters so that they will grow up with my love, with their mother. I have so many reasons to live and my hope for a full remission is as strong as ever.

My doctor has offered me what he calls ‘the closest thing to a cure’

Essentially he will be using immunotherapy alongside a personalised cancer vaccine that is created by using a sample of my tumour, this vaccine will reintroduce the cancer I have back into my body as foreign matter which will be picked up by the immunotherapy and destroyed.

The unfortunate thing is that the immunotherapy is not currently scheduled for my cancer type and therefore it will be an out of pocket cost as well as the cost for the vaccine and use of hypothermia to support the treatment.

The estimated cost exceeds $40,000 and although we have done what we can to get as much of this together ourselves before asking for help from our family, friends and community, we are still a long way off.

This differs from regular immunotherapy in that the vaccine is directing the T cells (immune system) exactly where to go. (Unlike chemotherapy, this will cross the blood brain barrier and therefore also treat the metastases in my brain)

My dr has seen every patient who has tried this therapy go straight into remission. A patient of his that I recently spoke with had been on a journey with cancer for 9 years and yet was able to achieve remission in just 8 weeks!!

Now it’s my turn!! I believe in miracles and I truely believe my body will respond to this treatment especially considering all the work I am doing to support my body on a nutritional, spiritual and emotional level.

With thanks to all the incredible help I have received over the last 18 months from my community, friends, family and generous strangers near and far, I have been able to continuously access naturopathic appointments and supplements ($2,000 + per month) private Drs ($500+ per appointment) organic produce/ juices, daily saunas, daily oxygen therapy, energy healing, biofield tuning (tuning forks) and many other supportive therapies.

I sit here with my two beautiful daughters playing in the kitchen today and am so grateful for every moment I have with them. Alongside my husband Jon.

Thank you to this incredible community for facilitating the means I need to continue to hug my daughters, laugh with my husband and feel the unbelievable joy of waking each morning with breath in my lungs.

My fight is far from over and I thank you for holding my hand through this unimaginable storm.