Support young mum, Mico, with rare cancer

Urgently seeking financial support for a young mum with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer not covered by public healthcare support.

Mico was diagnosed last Christmas with stage 4 alveolar type rhabdomyosarcoma, an extremely rare, complex, aggressive, and debilitating cancer.

Mico is in her late 30’s and is a mum to two beautiful girls aged 2 and 6. It deeply hit their family, urgently put their lives on hold to start treatment. But, limited health system support meant delayed access to medications and extremely high medical costs on top of everyday living expenses.

When her cancer unexpectedly progressed to leptomeningeal disease, the family urgently travelled to her home country, Taiwan, to receive life-saving surgery and treatment close to family and loved ones.

My name is Maryanne, and I am fund-raising on behalf of Mico Tsai. Any funds raised will directly help Mico, her husband, and their two girls, who are entirely responsible for funding medical and hospital expenses, accommodation, living expenses, childcare arrangements, and logistical complexities associated with Mico’s care and support. Any contributions will be received with gratitude.

Please see a personal letter and thank you from Mico below:

_________________________________________________________________________

Hello, 

My name is Mico, I'm a 39 year old woman originally from Taiwan. I was living happily in Brisbane Australia with my husband and 2 daughters Zoe (6 years) and Alyssa (2 years) until last Christmas when I was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. 

 It started as a pain in my ribs, a lump under my jaw, and then a CT scan and biopsy. We spent Christmas Eve being ushered nervously through the imaging departments in the hospital and were told soon after that I had stage 4 cancer with a very poor survival rate. 

 But I told myself I will do whatever it takes because my family needs me. 

 I began my treatment immediately and although the nurses and staff are amazing, sometimes the hospital is very lonely and I miss my family, I need to find my strength. 

 I have been taking chemotherapy for 7 months and amazingly reached remission when the doctors said it had spread to the brain as leptomeningeal disease. We flew back to my home country of Taiwan to be closer to my original family and get access to treatment faster. I have since had 2 brain operations and have done 3 weeks of radiation therapy. 

My best hope now is with targeted and immunotherapy drugs which are very expensive but seem to be working well. 

 I want to beat this disease. I want to be there for my daughters and I want to watch them grow up. This is what I want more than anything else. 

Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for your support and kindness. 

Mico Tsai