Kayleigh's chance at survival
Donation protected
In May 2017 Kayleigh was diagnosed with a cancer called Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. This was in the back of her nose and her lymph nodes (lymphoma). Kayleigh did a combination of chemotherapy and radiation in attempt to reduce the size and kill the cancer cells. This started in June and finished in September. December the 1st Kayleigh was given the all clear and told the cancer was completely gone.
Throughout 2018 Kayleigh worked on getting her life back by starting work again and getting back into her routine that she had before the diagnosis.
One year after Kayleigh got the all clear from the Nasopharyngeal Cancer she was beginning to feel unwell again, she went to her GP and then the hospital and they did scans. The doctors found a large mass on her lungs and many other little spots alongside it. They then sent her off for a PET scan and a biopsy, the scan and biopsy revealed that the spots were malignant and there had been a reoccurrence.
The same cancer that Kayleigh had in 2017 is now in her lungs where it has grown over time, this is known as metastasis, meaning the cancer cells had broken away from the original tumour and travelled through either the blood system or the lymphatic system (we are unsure of which one at this stage) into her lungs.
On the 3rd of January 2019 Kayleigh had an appointment with her oncologist where they told her what exactly it was that she had and where we can go from here. The oncologist gave Kayleigh a prognosis, she was told without treatment she will only have a few months left to live.
With chemotherapy, the cancer will shrink to begin with but will eventually stop responding to the treatment, this will essentially give Kayleigh more time but won’t kill the cancer. With treatment she was told she will have around a year left to live depending on how her body can handle the aggressiveness of the chemotherapy and the cancer itself.
Kayleigh has been accepted onto a trail for immunotherapy, which has a 1 in 5 chance of being effective for her. This immunotherapy activates the body’s own immune response to attack cancer cells and is a relatively new way to treat cancer. Some types of cancer immunotherapy are subsidized by the Australian Government but as Kayleigh’s cancer has spread to her lungs from elsewhere, she does not qualify for any financial assistance with this treatment. We learned today that treatment will cost almost $3000 every three weeks. There is a ceiling on the amount of money the pharmacy trail take from each patient, currently set at about $60k.
Kayleigh’s family and friends will stop at nothing to come up with the money to pay for her treatment, and we really appreciate the kindness and generosity of the people we know and the people that read this story that are able to donate money.
Throughout 2018 Kayleigh worked on getting her life back by starting work again and getting back into her routine that she had before the diagnosis.
One year after Kayleigh got the all clear from the Nasopharyngeal Cancer she was beginning to feel unwell again, she went to her GP and then the hospital and they did scans. The doctors found a large mass on her lungs and many other little spots alongside it. They then sent her off for a PET scan and a biopsy, the scan and biopsy revealed that the spots were malignant and there had been a reoccurrence.
The same cancer that Kayleigh had in 2017 is now in her lungs where it has grown over time, this is known as metastasis, meaning the cancer cells had broken away from the original tumour and travelled through either the blood system or the lymphatic system (we are unsure of which one at this stage) into her lungs.
On the 3rd of January 2019 Kayleigh had an appointment with her oncologist where they told her what exactly it was that she had and where we can go from here. The oncologist gave Kayleigh a prognosis, she was told without treatment she will only have a few months left to live.
With chemotherapy, the cancer will shrink to begin with but will eventually stop responding to the treatment, this will essentially give Kayleigh more time but won’t kill the cancer. With treatment she was told she will have around a year left to live depending on how her body can handle the aggressiveness of the chemotherapy and the cancer itself.
Kayleigh has been accepted onto a trail for immunotherapy, which has a 1 in 5 chance of being effective for her. This immunotherapy activates the body’s own immune response to attack cancer cells and is a relatively new way to treat cancer. Some types of cancer immunotherapy are subsidized by the Australian Government but as Kayleigh’s cancer has spread to her lungs from elsewhere, she does not qualify for any financial assistance with this treatment. We learned today that treatment will cost almost $3000 every three weeks. There is a ceiling on the amount of money the pharmacy trail take from each patient, currently set at about $60k.
Kayleigh’s family and friends will stop at nothing to come up with the money to pay for her treatment, and we really appreciate the kindness and generosity of the people we know and the people that read this story that are able to donate money.
Organizer and beneficiary
Ellanor Warner
Organizer
North Lakes QLD
David Mooney
Beneficiary
