Relief for Tom and Trish

If you have received a link to this then you know who Tommy D is, but you might not know what's been happening with him lately. On January 3rd Tom's wife Trish noticed some yellowing in his eyes so he went in for a checkup. A scan on the 6th revealed that he has a tumour in his liver. In the weeks that followed Tom became increasingly jaundiced, as characterised by the yellowing of the skin and eyes. This essentially means that his liver isn't filtering out the toxic stuff in his bloodstream. He was admitted to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on the 24th, operated on for a biopsy and to install a stent in the bile ducts of his liver (to drain the toxic stuff that has built up directly out). The biopsy results confirmed a malignant and rare form of cancer, Primary Bile Duct Cancer. The next step planned is surgery to remove a large portion of the liver followed by extensive chemo and recovery. Unfortunately the stent has not been as effective as hoped, and with the bile drainage slow the next surgery has been delayed. Since the initial surgery Tom has remained in Charlie's and according to his doctors he will be in and out of there for the next few months at a minimum. That is about all we know at this stage, as the doctors are waiting for more progress before making any further decisions.

Up until now Trish has been holding the fort magnificently, both financially and emotionally, however it is becoming increasingly difficult. She has been forced to divide her time between his bedside and her work, and as you can imagine work has become a very secondary priority. We've set this up because Tommy and Trish have a long road of treatment ahead of them, and any support we can give them financially will allow them to focus on what's important. Anything and everything donated will help, and even just sharing a link to this page will go a long way towards alleviating some financial pressure.

Thanks for reading and for sharing this page with Trish and Tom's family and friends.