Save Our Daddy From Brain Cancer
Donation protected
My name is Sarah, mum of 2 and the fiance of Lee Henderson, a 33 year old country boy who moved here over 5 years ago so we could raise our family in my hometown of Perth. We have 2 beautiful kidlets, Indi-Rose who just turned 4, and Olli, who will be 2 in December.
Lee's Story:
6 days ago Lee was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 Brain Cancer (Glioblastoma Multiforme GBM). the same brain cancer that took the life of his mother, Denise Henderson, mother of 5 boys, sadly before she could meet her first grandchild, Indi-Rose. It was also only 1 year ago that his good friend Cameron Ward also lost his battle with brain cancer, leaving behind a beautiful daughter, so unfortuntely we are all too familiar with the devastation brain cancer brings with it.
Until Lee's official diagnoses on the 4th November, he had been living a full and healthy life as an active, hands on daddy, who loved excersising 5 days a week, taking his kids to the beach, bike riding, fishing, scooting and skating. He also worked hard as a FIFO Mechanic and in his time off was also renovating our little old house.
On the 8th of October 2016, we were on the way home from an indoor play centre with our children and Lee's dad Jim, who was visiting from Griffith, NSW, when Lee suffered a Grand Mal seizure whilst driving on Leach Hwy. If his father wasn't in the passenger seat to steer the car and put it into neutral, it wouldve been a bigger disaster than it was. It was divine intervention in so many ways.
Lee was unconscious in the front seat, for a minute i thought he had died, when he regained consciousness he couldn't recognise anyone or comprehend anything, so he was taken to Fiona Stanley for several scans and tests, for which the conclusion was a brain tumor on the left temporal and parietal lobe, which required immediate surgery, in 2 weeks!
At home, during the wait for surgery, we were getting ready to have our first camping trip with the kids and as we were about to leave, Lee lost the ability to speak, walk properly and move his arms. He was rushed back to hospital for more CT and MRI scans, which revealed a considerable amount of swelling and fluid on the brain, and that the tumour had significantly grown, this was the moment the surgeon cofirmed he suspected the results from surgery would show an aggressive cancer. Through it all Lee stayed positive, light hearted and we all just prayed to the universe and to any god listening for it to all be ok. If not for us, for the sake of our kids.
Lee regained most of his speech and movement before surgery, during this time we got stuck into researching and preparing for the worst. Through my organic business page The Organic LIfestyle Co, many cancer sufferers and surviviors reached out with their own journeys, and treatment experiences and also referred their contacts.
Surgery went well, so we were hopeful. 10 days later the biopsy result concluded the above diagnosis and the treatment advised was to begin intensive radiotherapy for six weeks in conjunction with high doses of chemo therapy. The physical side-effects of this will be physical and mental exhaustion, nausea, hair loss and permanent eye sight and hearing damage. Not to mention susceptibility to infections due to low immunity during the course of this treatment, which will continue for nine months.
This is to prolong Lees life, however this will not save Lee or cure his cancer, in fact we are not sure what it is doing as we have been told by the neurosurgeons and oncologist that the reason Lee's prognosis is 12 months is because this is the most aggressive brain cancer as it is highly resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the literature says that doing this buys him another 14 weeks of life.
There is only a 15% chance of Lee surviving the 2 year mark. Therefore we have had to look into other alternative therapies to strengthen his body.
As we know cancer hates oxygen and thrives in an acidic, inflammed environment so treatments such as oxygen therapy, Vitamin C, B17 and Glutathione injections, herbal medicine, nutritional medicine and supplementation can only improve Lees prognosis.
Cancer also thrives off sugar, which is why Lee is taking his diet seriously. He is currently on an alkalising diet, completely grain free, vegan with occasional wild salmon, and is also doing parts of the Gerson Method.
Lee is trying anything, he is not going down without a fight, and my background in natural medicine will help us prolong Lee's life so he can see his children grow up, we just wish for him to enjoy more precious moments with his children, so we have many more memories to hold and cherish for the rest of our lives. By documenting his treatments we hope to help other cancer sufferers aswell.
Lee has had to stop working and in the long term he will be unable to work due to the side-effects of the chemo and radio therapy, and the brain cancer in general, which will eventually stop speech and movement.
I will have to look after him full-time, aswell as raise our children, and therefore will be unable to work. Although i will try as much as i can.
All who know Lee will know what a genuinely caring soul he is, always the first to help others in their time of need, and when we afforded it were regular donors to the starlight foundation, the red cross and the salvos.
We are reaching out to you to assist us in raising funds asap that will cover the medical and living expenses during this period. We don't want to lose our family home which we worked so hard to fix nor do we want to be worrying about money if these are his final months alive.
UPDATE ON TUES 22/11/16
We have finally calculated a total cost of Lee's Medical treatments which we need to begin now.
Treatment needs to be a combination of natural and conventional medicine., including the latest in personalised medicine that focuses on using medicines to target Lee's specific brain cancer according to its biological/genetic make up, this may still include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy when required.
This is offered by The Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas. We have been unable to find anything that offers the same treatments, with the same success rate. The costs involved are:
$20,000 upfront to begin, then depending on the types of medication used, ongoing costs are between $12,500 and 25,000 USD per month for between 4 and 12 months.
Add to this flights, accommodation and living expenses and we are looking at a cost of around $250,000 worst case scenario.
We are applying for his life insurance and early release of Lee's superannuation, however this can take up to 6 months to be released, we are waiting to see how they can bring this forward based on Lee's lack of time. He cant afford to wait any longer, considering his cancer is aggressive and can grow back to full size within weeks.
Lee is also going to begin with the Gerson Therapy at the Clinic in Mexico to completely rid his body of all toxins that feed cancer, and ensure he is in peak physical health before he begins the conventional treatments. The success rates here for also beating cancer are phenomenal but due to Lees type of cancer, we need to attack it from all angles with everything we have access to.
2 weeks at the Gerson Clinic is $7,500AUD per week, in total $15,000 plus flights.
At the moment we are currently using the donations to pay $1500 per week on his Vitamin C, B and Ozone injections.
We also spend approximately $700 per month on all the supplements he is taking.
We can't thank you all enough for all the support, encouragement and love you have so generously given to us over the past week or so. There's honestly no way to truly express how grateful we are, but to let you know how much you have touched our hearts, and to also assure you that we will do anything we can to improve Lee's chances.
Now more than ever, after discovering the real costs of using the latest in cancer medicine, we need everyone to keep sharing our fundraising page so we can reach our new goal of $250,000
I know it is so much to ask, but we have no other option, no time to spare and we need to get him locked into more treatments asap. So please keep him in your thoughts, and keep sending us all the good vibes you can muster! He's a stubborn old wog and we certainly aren't ready to say goodbye to him yet!!!
I will keep you updated as often as possible, and let you know how his MRI results come back tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed it hasn't grown or spread yet, and what we have done so far has managed to slow it down or put it on pause.
We will be deeply and forever grateful for any assistance that can be provided to us.
Thank you so much.
In health and happiness always,
Sarah, Lee, Indi and Olli
(the awesome foursome)
xox
Lee's Story:
6 days ago Lee was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 Brain Cancer (Glioblastoma Multiforme GBM). the same brain cancer that took the life of his mother, Denise Henderson, mother of 5 boys, sadly before she could meet her first grandchild, Indi-Rose. It was also only 1 year ago that his good friend Cameron Ward also lost his battle with brain cancer, leaving behind a beautiful daughter, so unfortuntely we are all too familiar with the devastation brain cancer brings with it.
Until Lee's official diagnoses on the 4th November, he had been living a full and healthy life as an active, hands on daddy, who loved excersising 5 days a week, taking his kids to the beach, bike riding, fishing, scooting and skating. He also worked hard as a FIFO Mechanic and in his time off was also renovating our little old house.
On the 8th of October 2016, we were on the way home from an indoor play centre with our children and Lee's dad Jim, who was visiting from Griffith, NSW, when Lee suffered a Grand Mal seizure whilst driving on Leach Hwy. If his father wasn't in the passenger seat to steer the car and put it into neutral, it wouldve been a bigger disaster than it was. It was divine intervention in so many ways.
Lee was unconscious in the front seat, for a minute i thought he had died, when he regained consciousness he couldn't recognise anyone or comprehend anything, so he was taken to Fiona Stanley for several scans and tests, for which the conclusion was a brain tumor on the left temporal and parietal lobe, which required immediate surgery, in 2 weeks!
At home, during the wait for surgery, we were getting ready to have our first camping trip with the kids and as we were about to leave, Lee lost the ability to speak, walk properly and move his arms. He was rushed back to hospital for more CT and MRI scans, which revealed a considerable amount of swelling and fluid on the brain, and that the tumour had significantly grown, this was the moment the surgeon cofirmed he suspected the results from surgery would show an aggressive cancer. Through it all Lee stayed positive, light hearted and we all just prayed to the universe and to any god listening for it to all be ok. If not for us, for the sake of our kids.
Lee regained most of his speech and movement before surgery, during this time we got stuck into researching and preparing for the worst. Through my organic business page The Organic LIfestyle Co, many cancer sufferers and surviviors reached out with their own journeys, and treatment experiences and also referred their contacts.
Surgery went well, so we were hopeful. 10 days later the biopsy result concluded the above diagnosis and the treatment advised was to begin intensive radiotherapy for six weeks in conjunction with high doses of chemo therapy. The physical side-effects of this will be physical and mental exhaustion, nausea, hair loss and permanent eye sight and hearing damage. Not to mention susceptibility to infections due to low immunity during the course of this treatment, which will continue for nine months.
This is to prolong Lees life, however this will not save Lee or cure his cancer, in fact we are not sure what it is doing as we have been told by the neurosurgeons and oncologist that the reason Lee's prognosis is 12 months is because this is the most aggressive brain cancer as it is highly resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the literature says that doing this buys him another 14 weeks of life.
There is only a 15% chance of Lee surviving the 2 year mark. Therefore we have had to look into other alternative therapies to strengthen his body.
As we know cancer hates oxygen and thrives in an acidic, inflammed environment so treatments such as oxygen therapy, Vitamin C, B17 and Glutathione injections, herbal medicine, nutritional medicine and supplementation can only improve Lees prognosis.
Cancer also thrives off sugar, which is why Lee is taking his diet seriously. He is currently on an alkalising diet, completely grain free, vegan with occasional wild salmon, and is also doing parts of the Gerson Method.
Lee is trying anything, he is not going down without a fight, and my background in natural medicine will help us prolong Lee's life so he can see his children grow up, we just wish for him to enjoy more precious moments with his children, so we have many more memories to hold and cherish for the rest of our lives. By documenting his treatments we hope to help other cancer sufferers aswell.
Lee has had to stop working and in the long term he will be unable to work due to the side-effects of the chemo and radio therapy, and the brain cancer in general, which will eventually stop speech and movement.
I will have to look after him full-time, aswell as raise our children, and therefore will be unable to work. Although i will try as much as i can.
All who know Lee will know what a genuinely caring soul he is, always the first to help others in their time of need, and when we afforded it were regular donors to the starlight foundation, the red cross and the salvos.
We are reaching out to you to assist us in raising funds asap that will cover the medical and living expenses during this period. We don't want to lose our family home which we worked so hard to fix nor do we want to be worrying about money if these are his final months alive.
UPDATE ON TUES 22/11/16
We have finally calculated a total cost of Lee's Medical treatments which we need to begin now.
Treatment needs to be a combination of natural and conventional medicine., including the latest in personalised medicine that focuses on using medicines to target Lee's specific brain cancer according to its biological/genetic make up, this may still include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy when required.
This is offered by The Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas. We have been unable to find anything that offers the same treatments, with the same success rate. The costs involved are:
$20,000 upfront to begin, then depending on the types of medication used, ongoing costs are between $12,500 and 25,000 USD per month for between 4 and 12 months.
Add to this flights, accommodation and living expenses and we are looking at a cost of around $250,000 worst case scenario.
We are applying for his life insurance and early release of Lee's superannuation, however this can take up to 6 months to be released, we are waiting to see how they can bring this forward based on Lee's lack of time. He cant afford to wait any longer, considering his cancer is aggressive and can grow back to full size within weeks.
Lee is also going to begin with the Gerson Therapy at the Clinic in Mexico to completely rid his body of all toxins that feed cancer, and ensure he is in peak physical health before he begins the conventional treatments. The success rates here for also beating cancer are phenomenal but due to Lees type of cancer, we need to attack it from all angles with everything we have access to.
2 weeks at the Gerson Clinic is $7,500AUD per week, in total $15,000 plus flights.
At the moment we are currently using the donations to pay $1500 per week on his Vitamin C, B and Ozone injections.
We also spend approximately $700 per month on all the supplements he is taking.
We can't thank you all enough for all the support, encouragement and love you have so generously given to us over the past week or so. There's honestly no way to truly express how grateful we are, but to let you know how much you have touched our hearts, and to also assure you that we will do anything we can to improve Lee's chances.
Now more than ever, after discovering the real costs of using the latest in cancer medicine, we need everyone to keep sharing our fundraising page so we can reach our new goal of $250,000
I know it is so much to ask, but we have no other option, no time to spare and we need to get him locked into more treatments asap. So please keep him in your thoughts, and keep sending us all the good vibes you can muster! He's a stubborn old wog and we certainly aren't ready to say goodbye to him yet!!!
I will keep you updated as often as possible, and let you know how his MRI results come back tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed it hasn't grown or spread yet, and what we have done so far has managed to slow it down or put it on pause.
We will be deeply and forever grateful for any assistance that can be provided to us.
Thank you so much.
In health and happiness always,
Sarah, Lee, Indi and Olli
(the awesome foursome)
xox
Organizer
Sarah Bee Pollen
Organizer
Rivervale WA
