Save Our Mummy - Kath's Cancer Fund
Donation protected
Metastatic Breast Cancer is breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other organs in the body, most often the bones, lungs, liver and brain. It’s incurable and our best friend Kath, young mum of 2, has it.
The five year survival rates are very low with the median life expectancy just 26 months so we knew we had to do something to assist her in undertaking every type of treatment possible in the hope she will get more time with her 2 young children, Jesse 5 & Holly just 1.
We are reaching out to you to assist us in raising funds ASAP to cover medical treatments over the next 6 months, so Kath can undertake both mainstream and natural treatment options, giving her more time with her beautiful kids. We ask you to dig deep and support Kath. Much love Raych, Deb & Sherri xo
Kath’s Story
My name is Kath. I am 41 years old, I am a mother of two, a wife, a daughter and a sister.
As much as I find sharing my very personal story extremely difficult, it is something I have to do, for the sake of my children, and in the quest to buy more time with them, so that they form beautiful memories and experiences with me. My wish is to live long enough for them to be old enough to remember.
In August 2012, I finished breastfeeding my son, Jesse, and noticed a small lump in my left breast. I told my GP who told me to go and get it further investigated. I wasn’t too concerned, and thought “as if it would be something bad? I’ve always been healthy, and I’m young”. After a few months of regularly checking the lump, I noticed it had gotten bigger. It was then that I decided to go and have scans done, after Christmas.
We had a lovely time for Jesse’s first Christmas. Soon after, Kel and I got engaged, Jesse turned one, and everything was wonderful. Then I had the scans done, then a biopsy, and it all went downhill from there. On Australia Day 2013, my GP broke the news to me that I had breast cancer, and it was a nasty one. I was absolutely devastated. I couldn’t believe such a thing could happen to me. Then I went into fight mode, and underwent surgery (removal of lump and lymph nodes), 6 rounds of very strong chemotherapy, then 6 weeks of radiotherapy, and emerged out of it ready to be fit and healthy and disease-free. I started eating a very clean diet, exercising very regularly, and slowly gained my health and fitness back. I began to put all of the cancer stuff behind me, and not live life in fear.
Life was travelling along pretty well. After two years of good health, I fell pregnant with my baby girl, Holly. The pregnancy was fairly easy, and in Feb 2016, my big hairball baby girl was born! It was wonderful. She was a very easy baby, and a happy little soul.
On November 28th, 2016, I was doing a Body Pump class and I hurt my back. I had a niggly spot in my mid back since I was pregnant with Holly, but just thought it was an annoying little rib injury from when I was very pregnant. It would come and go. This time it didn’t get better with manual therapy, and I had nerve damage too. Being an Osteopath, I went into panic mode, as I knew that a disc injury in the sore area is unlikely, so a tumour must be ruled out.
Given my history, I felt extremely anxious and the icing on the cake was that I was pregnant with my third child, so I was even more worried. I had an MRI done in mid December 2016, which confirmed that I had cancer in my spine. Not just in one spot, but in many spots. My whole world fell apart. Kel and I were absolutely heart broken. The grief and sadness was almost too much to bear. My devastation for the kids, who will lose their mummy way too soon, seemed insurmountable and we had no choice but to terminate the pregnancy to deal with my immediate health and get as much time as possible for me and the kids.
Kel and I were to move back to northern Victoria to be closer to family and friends. We sold our business in Perth, and some amazing friends organised a working bee at our house to get it ready to rent. It was a crazy couple of weeks. We flew back to Victoria for Christmas, and I decided to stay there with family and the kids while Kel went back to Perth to pack up the house and work throughout January. I had no choice but to start treatment ASAP.
In January, I had further scans done, which revealed that I also had cancer in my pelvic bone, and in my liver and possibly in my lung. This was bad news. My back pain was severe, especially at night, and I was relying on heavy painkillers to live a normal life. I couldn’t lift my baby girl, and I couldn’t look after my kids without help.
I had 5 sessions of radiotherapy to my spine, and after a few weeks, my pain had disappeared, so I’m now able to function as normal and look after my kids, which is great. The radiotherapy is not a cure – it is palliative, so it is done to ease the pain only. I’m also doing chemotherapy, every week for 18 weeks. I’m about to go in for my 5th session, and so far it has been not too bad. I’m tired, and soon I will be shaving off what is left of my hair. This is very difficult, but unavoidable. Again, the chemo will not cure me, just buy me more time.
Chemo is only one type of treatment. If I want to give myself the best chance of keeping the cancer at bay, for as long as possible, I need to try everything that has shown scientifically to reduce cancer. This includes natural treatments such as vitamin infusions and hyperthermia, which complements the chemotherapy, offered by the National Institute of Integrative Medicine, in Melbourne. Each treatment (weekly for at least 18 weeks) costs $1200. There are many other treatment options, all of which cost big dollars, and may involve travelling overseas to hospitals which offer amazing treatments unavailable here in Australia. The average cost per round of treatment in one of these hospitals is $20,000, and I could need 2-3 rounds of treatment, depending on my response.
As a young mother of a 5 & 1 year old, it is so important to my family and I, for me to be around for many more years. The stats are against me so any donations would mean the world to us, as I will be able to afford to try absolutely everything to keep the disease under control. My kids need me, and I need to see them grow up, so your help would be absolutely wonderful and my family will be forever grateful! THANK-YOU from the bottom of our hearts, much love Kath and Family xo
The five year survival rates are very low with the median life expectancy just 26 months so we knew we had to do something to assist her in undertaking every type of treatment possible in the hope she will get more time with her 2 young children, Jesse 5 & Holly just 1.
We are reaching out to you to assist us in raising funds ASAP to cover medical treatments over the next 6 months, so Kath can undertake both mainstream and natural treatment options, giving her more time with her beautiful kids. We ask you to dig deep and support Kath. Much love Raych, Deb & Sherri xo
Kath’s Story
My name is Kath. I am 41 years old, I am a mother of two, a wife, a daughter and a sister.
As much as I find sharing my very personal story extremely difficult, it is something I have to do, for the sake of my children, and in the quest to buy more time with them, so that they form beautiful memories and experiences with me. My wish is to live long enough for them to be old enough to remember.
In August 2012, I finished breastfeeding my son, Jesse, and noticed a small lump in my left breast. I told my GP who told me to go and get it further investigated. I wasn’t too concerned, and thought “as if it would be something bad? I’ve always been healthy, and I’m young”. After a few months of regularly checking the lump, I noticed it had gotten bigger. It was then that I decided to go and have scans done, after Christmas.
We had a lovely time for Jesse’s first Christmas. Soon after, Kel and I got engaged, Jesse turned one, and everything was wonderful. Then I had the scans done, then a biopsy, and it all went downhill from there. On Australia Day 2013, my GP broke the news to me that I had breast cancer, and it was a nasty one. I was absolutely devastated. I couldn’t believe such a thing could happen to me. Then I went into fight mode, and underwent surgery (removal of lump and lymph nodes), 6 rounds of very strong chemotherapy, then 6 weeks of radiotherapy, and emerged out of it ready to be fit and healthy and disease-free. I started eating a very clean diet, exercising very regularly, and slowly gained my health and fitness back. I began to put all of the cancer stuff behind me, and not live life in fear.
Life was travelling along pretty well. After two years of good health, I fell pregnant with my baby girl, Holly. The pregnancy was fairly easy, and in Feb 2016, my big hairball baby girl was born! It was wonderful. She was a very easy baby, and a happy little soul.
On November 28th, 2016, I was doing a Body Pump class and I hurt my back. I had a niggly spot in my mid back since I was pregnant with Holly, but just thought it was an annoying little rib injury from when I was very pregnant. It would come and go. This time it didn’t get better with manual therapy, and I had nerve damage too. Being an Osteopath, I went into panic mode, as I knew that a disc injury in the sore area is unlikely, so a tumour must be ruled out.
Given my history, I felt extremely anxious and the icing on the cake was that I was pregnant with my third child, so I was even more worried. I had an MRI done in mid December 2016, which confirmed that I had cancer in my spine. Not just in one spot, but in many spots. My whole world fell apart. Kel and I were absolutely heart broken. The grief and sadness was almost too much to bear. My devastation for the kids, who will lose their mummy way too soon, seemed insurmountable and we had no choice but to terminate the pregnancy to deal with my immediate health and get as much time as possible for me and the kids.
Kel and I were to move back to northern Victoria to be closer to family and friends. We sold our business in Perth, and some amazing friends organised a working bee at our house to get it ready to rent. It was a crazy couple of weeks. We flew back to Victoria for Christmas, and I decided to stay there with family and the kids while Kel went back to Perth to pack up the house and work throughout January. I had no choice but to start treatment ASAP.
In January, I had further scans done, which revealed that I also had cancer in my pelvic bone, and in my liver and possibly in my lung. This was bad news. My back pain was severe, especially at night, and I was relying on heavy painkillers to live a normal life. I couldn’t lift my baby girl, and I couldn’t look after my kids without help.
I had 5 sessions of radiotherapy to my spine, and after a few weeks, my pain had disappeared, so I’m now able to function as normal and look after my kids, which is great. The radiotherapy is not a cure – it is palliative, so it is done to ease the pain only. I’m also doing chemotherapy, every week for 18 weeks. I’m about to go in for my 5th session, and so far it has been not too bad. I’m tired, and soon I will be shaving off what is left of my hair. This is very difficult, but unavoidable. Again, the chemo will not cure me, just buy me more time.
Chemo is only one type of treatment. If I want to give myself the best chance of keeping the cancer at bay, for as long as possible, I need to try everything that has shown scientifically to reduce cancer. This includes natural treatments such as vitamin infusions and hyperthermia, which complements the chemotherapy, offered by the National Institute of Integrative Medicine, in Melbourne. Each treatment (weekly for at least 18 weeks) costs $1200. There are many other treatment options, all of which cost big dollars, and may involve travelling overseas to hospitals which offer amazing treatments unavailable here in Australia. The average cost per round of treatment in one of these hospitals is $20,000, and I could need 2-3 rounds of treatment, depending on my response.
As a young mother of a 5 & 1 year old, it is so important to my family and I, for me to be around for many more years. The stats are against me so any donations would mean the world to us, as I will be able to afford to try absolutely everything to keep the disease under control. My kids need me, and I need to see them grow up, so your help would be absolutely wonderful and my family will be forever grateful! THANK-YOU from the bottom of our hearts, much love Kath and Family xo
Organizer
Rachel Ellis-Colless
Organizer
Kanyapella VIC
