7th Annual Sandra Graber Red Rose Ball
Saturday 19th September 2015
6:30pm for a 7:00pm Start

Venus Reception Centre

20 Belgrave St Kogarah

Tickets $95 - make a $95 donation on this page and reference your name your tickets will be mailed to you if you wish.

Our Story told by Sandra's middle daughter, Roshelle.


When someone you love is diagnosed with cancer, you start counting.

Sandra Graber was a healthy 57 year old when a gastroscopy showed she had stomach cancer. 8 days later she had surgery that removed all of her stomach, gallbladder and spleen. The cancer had also spread to 4 lymph nodes. She spent 19 days recovering in hospital, 38 days having chemo, 19 days having radiation and then another 36 days having chemo. For the next 6 months she tried her best to recover, but then received her 2nd diagnosis. The cancer had spread to her esophagus. There was another 16 days of chemo, 28 days in hospital, then she was transferred to Palliative care in Calvary. It was another 9 days till I realized she was not going to get better. Our mum was going to die.
20 days later at 4am, she passed away.

It is at that moment that your life is forever cut in half. What happened before mum died, and all that happens after.

But the counting doesn't stop there. She was 7 days away from seeing her youngest daughter turn 21. 29 days away from a vacation to Europe. 5 months and 29 days from meeting her first grandchild. 7 months and 22 days away from completing her university degree. 1 year, 1 month and 4 days from her 60th birthday. 3 years, 6 months and 2 days from meeting her second grandchild. 4 years, 3 months and 18 days from throwing her mum a 90th birthday and 5 years, 4 months and 16 days from walking her granddaughter to her first day at Kindergarten.

6 years, 9 months, 15 days. And we are still counting