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They tried for a baby. She got cancer instead.

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Hi, my name is Lauren Desrochers and I am fundraising for my friend Rayane and her beautiful family.

Rayane and Taylor met at college in 2010 and a romance soon blossomed. While Taylor pursued a career as an X-ray tech, Rayane was preparing for her future as a registered nurse, and their love grew while they supported each other through the trials and tribulations of young adulthood.
In the summer of 2013 Taylor proposed at the coffee shop where they had their first date, and they planned to wait to get married until they had both graduated. Taylor finished school in 2015 and immediately began working as an X-ray technologist at Kelowna General Hospital. Rayane began her career as an RN in the same hospital a year later. They were married in an intimate ceremony in August of 2016, shortly after Rayane graduated with her BScN.
In the following years Taylor and Rayane enjoyed married life, adventuring around the world together and exploring the wonders of BC. Rayane even completed her Neonatal Intensive Care nursing specialty while continuing to work as a frontline medical nurse at KGH. Then, in August of 2019, they announced the news they had been impatiently keeping for months - their family of two would grow to three! In February of 2020 their son Bowen made his grand entrance, bringing more joy to their lives than they ever could have
imagined.
In May of 2021 they got the amazing news they had been hoping for - they were pregnant with baby number two! They didn’t think they could experience this level of joy, Bowen as a big brother and a new baby to love. Hearts bursting with love, they awaited their first ultrasound appointment and that first glimpse of babe.
They never got that moment.
It was something no one ever wants to hear at their first ultrasound. “There is no baby.” Instead, there was a rare (1 in 1000) molar pregnancy. Their world collapsed and the whirlwind began. The minutes turned into hours and hours into days. Days of waiting on results. Results that would change their lives forever. Days filled with the unknown. Initial treatment was surgery, with regular blood work to monitor for complications. Everything was going according to plan and Rayane’s HCG levels started to decline. Until they didn’t. Caught in her weekly blood work, Rayane’s HCG levels started to rise - a sign of yet another rare complication. Doing it alone due to COVID, she went in for a second surgery - “just to make sure”... except nothing was sure. It didn’t work. Her levels continued to rise. Then the word no one EVER wants to hear. Cancer.
Diagnosed with Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia at just 28 years old. A young mom to the sweetest 1.5 year old little guy and a fellow nurse.
Their case was brought to tumor boards and Rayane was referred to an oncologist here in Kelowna, with another on the case in Vancouver. Chemo started quickly. Although Rayane struggled quietly with the devastating news and the side-effects of the chemo, Taylor tried to balance the care of their toddler, household management, a full time job, and continuing to support the love of his life. Everyone was hopeful.
Then, in September 2021, another blow. The single agent chemo that looked so promising was unsuccessful. The cancer continues to grow and the new treatment plan is a stronger, double agent chemo. Rayane will be admitted to hospital for 1-2 nights every two weeks to receive the chemotherapy regimen, in hopes that it works and HCG levels decline.
Rayane and Taylor have always been the ones to lend a hand. Whether hard at work helping care for the sickest and often smallest (as a NICU nurse) patients at a tertiary care center or getting really personal while openly sharing their struggles so that others won’t feel so alone, they can often be found quietly serving our community. The funds raised will help Rayane and Taylor with general expenses, costs related to treatment, and will allow Rayane to focus on healing and Taylor to focus on supporting her. This would be a hard season for anyone, but is especially difficult timing given that they were on reduced income while Rayane was on maternity leave with Bowen leading up to the diagnosis.
When the nurses that work with Rayane were asked to describe her in one word, some of the words that came up were “thoughtful; adventurous; caring; bright; charitable; nurturing; genuine”. One colleague wrote “Rayane is the human form of sunshine. As soon as you see her you instantly feel better; you feel her warmth. She lights up a room with her vibrancy and acceptance.” She has had such a positive impact on each person she touches. Taylor encounters Rayane’s nurse colleagues every day while at work and he always smiles and laughs amidst the constant harassment, even at 2am. They are just really good people, and they deserve so much love and support.
To each person who has donated, shared, or sent their love: Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Thank you for showing these two that the world is still full of love and brightness and hope - let’s be their sunshine during their darkest days.

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $20 
    • 2 yrs
  • Donald Green
    • $1,000 
    • 2 yrs
  • Laura Cacciacarro
    • $50 
    • 2 yrs
  • Chan Lee
    • $100 
    • 2 yrs
  • Janelle Mazurkewich
    • $75 
    • 2 yrs

Organizer and beneficiary

Lauren Desrochers
Organizer
Kelowna, BC
Rayane Armbrust
Beneficiary

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