The Hansen Family Need Our Help...

Hello, my name is Lisa Woolgar and I have a wonderful friend Vanessa Hansen. Ness might even be your friend too, and if she’s not, if you met her, she soon would be. You see, Vanessa brings people together, is always your biggest cheerleader, and is selfless beyond measure. A true blessing to all who are privileged to know her. Wife to Carl, mum to Zachary, Freya and Charlotte, a beloved daughter and sister and the best friend a person could ask for.

Vanessa is also a fighter. In 2012 Vanessa was diagnosed with melanoma in her eye, she lost all vision in that eye, but she kicked its arse. In 2018 Vanessa was diagnosed with aggressive stage three invasive ductal carcinoma with lymph node involvement (read breast cancer), which required six months of chemo and twenty-five rounds of radiation, followed by hormone therapy. She even had a total hysterectomy, as this was considered the best chance of avoiding nasties in the future. She kicked its arse… or so we thought.

Life has thrown a massive curve ball for the Hansens, when on the 10th of November 2022, four years and ten months after her breast cancer diagnosis, Ness got the news no one wanted to hear. Metastatic secondary cancer. After feeling like she had a pinched nerve in her back, she went for multiple scans, and on her T2 vertebrae sat a malignant tumour. Ness underwent surgery on Thursday, 17 November, to debulk the tumour and heavily radiate the area. The surgeons have also found some hotspots (lesions), one of which is on her lung.

Now here comes the kicker that none of us wanted to hear. The cancer this time is treatable, but not curable. Life is about to become all about hospitals, scans, medication, more scans, and possibly different medications depending on how the cancer, which is tracking up and down her spine, will react to each treatment. This is a fight Vanessa is more than capable of fighting. She’s allowed herself time to cry and grieve, and I’m sure there will be days when she does so again, but for now, she is ready to give it all she has. This folks, is where we come in….

Despite having top hospital cover, Vanessa's surgery alone was $15,000!! Thank goodness she could access her superannuation. But that is just one of many medical expenses that are to come. This will be a long road; she is far from ready to go anywhere! She has Zach and Hattie’s wedding in 2024, she has Charlotte’s graduation in 2024, she wants to see Freya’s law career soar after working so hard for six years at uni, and she wants grandbabies (no pressure guys lol).

Can you help me, help the Hansens? I’m asking for donations, not just to ease the cost of the medical treatments. My goal in doing this was to help in all areas. Carl is a business owner, so if he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid. I want him to be able to take the occasional day off to be with Vanessa when she falls off the fighting wagon, because she will. I want her elderly parents to be able to hire a cleaner if the housework has become overwhelming and spend the day with Vanessa. I want Charlotte to continue to be the fantastic athlete that she is. Being at an elite level is costly, and I would hate to see the Hansens have to say no to an event due to financial difficulties. I want Ness not to have to go back to work for a while, if at all!

Please donate if you can, and if you cannot help with monetary donations, can I ask that you share the hell out of this link? Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Let’s rally the Ness Army!

Much love,

Lisa