Support Tess in her fight against colon cancer

Dear friends, family and kind-hearted strangers,

I am reaching out to share the story of my incredibly strong, brave and resilient sister-in-law, Tess, who is currently battling colon cancer.

Tess has been navigating digestive/gut issues since the beginning of the year. She had all sorts of tests and trialled different dietary changes to figure out what was going on. However, due to her age, healthy lifestyle and no family history, colon cancer was never considered a possibility by the doctors she saw.

Finally, after trialling every possible treatment that doctors had offered her, Tess asked to be referred to a specialist and pushed to have a colonoscopy to “rule everything out.”

Following the colonoscopy, Tess received a diagnosis of colon cancer - requiring immediate surgery the following week.

As you can imagine, this was a huge and heartbreaking shock for Tess, John and their two little girls. She is currently 6 days post major colon resection surgery and currently still in hospital recovering. She will be unable to drive or lift anything for some time (and those of you who know Tess will know just how heartbreaking it is for her not to be able to pick up and cuddle her girls). The recovery is quite extensive.

At this stage, it is unknown what the next 6-12 months look like for Tess. We do know that it will involve chemotherapy and it will involve an additional surgery.

Those of you who know Tess and John, know that they are a tight unit. They love each other and they love their girls with all their hearts. They are incredibly giving and generous people who go above and beyond for their family and friends. So much so, that they did not want to burden others by reaching out for help. After much convincing that they have so many people in their lives who would want to help them in their time of need, they have allowed me to set up this gofundme.

I am reaching out to you to rally around this incredible family. Your support will help cover medical bills, daily living expenses, and any additional treatments Tess may need. This will allow her to focus on what truly matters: her health, her family, and her fight. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference and brings us one step closer to lifting some of the weight off their shoulders. If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing this campaign to help spread the word.

With the next 6 weeks off work, and heavily reduced hours after that, any help to keep their home running as smoothly as possible would be greatly appreciated. Tess is most concerned about keeping life as normal as possible for the girls during this very uncertain and traumatic period of life. Your support will also mean that John won’t have to rush back to work and can be there to care for Tess and accompany her to the many appointments to follow.

Lastly, Tess wants to raise awareness for colon cancer in younger people. It is not just an “elderly disease” as Tess was made to believe over the last year. If you experience any persisting symptoms or something just doesn’t feel right, just get yourself checked and cover all bases. If she can help just one other person catch this disease early, it will have made this fundraising page worth it.