Raina's Road to Recovery

Hi there! Let me tell you about myself first of all! My name is River and I have had the privilege of being my mothers daughter for 25 years. Her name is Raina and she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer ( high grade serous adenocarcinoma to be exact!) this year of which I found out on Mothers Day.

This was absolutely devastating to myself, my dad, two brothers and sister as she is the rock of our family. She sacrificed everything she could for us to give us the best upbringing she could with the little she had.

My mum is 51 years old and very lucky that the doctors caught the disease when they were actually doing scans on her stomach for ulcers. Had the doctor not noticed something unusual about her results, I can’t even imagine what the future would hold.


My mum had a complete hysterectomy and removal of a 6cm tumor off her liver, stomach and intestines as well as part of her colon being removed. So not only does my mum have to endure the suffering from effects of chemo but in addition menopause as well!

But in true warrior style my mum handles it with grace and sheds nothing but light and positivity to those around her.

She lost most of her hair by the second week of chemo which was the hardest part because she has ALWAYS had long hair, as have I!


So I will be shaving my hair Christmas Day 2016 in support for my mum and to raise money to send her to Living Valley, a cancer detox facility in QLD, so that she can have a good chance at recovery and overall survival.

I am scared that after chemo my mum may continue to suffer further because chemo is so toxic and lowers your white blood cell count, can cause anaemia, problems with memory, harm cells in the gastrointestinal tract, kidney and bladder damage and osteoporosis to name a few.

In order for her to get a head start at recovery to reduce any chance of a reoccurrence of any type of cancer she needs to go to Living Valley so that she can receive the best care and education in post chemo care.

My parents stand to lose up to $30,000 from this disease because my mum can't work now and Dad occaisionally has to take time off. Medications and hospital trips will also add up and eat away at their retirement money. The idea of spending $10,000 on a cancer detox is too stressful for them. The cost of a 14 day total transformation at Living Lalley starts at $7550. With the money I hope to raise I can send her there including flights from Perth. I would like to send her there straight after Christmas once her chemo is completed.

I don't want to wait until her situation worsens to get proactive about it as the survival rate beyond 5 years can be as low as 39% for the type of cancer she has. 

Your help, love and support will not only help prolong my mums life but make it a happier and healthier one. To show how much I appreciate your kindness I will be shaving my hair Christmas Day and you can watch the video here! 

To learn more about Living Valley's total transformation click on the link below:

http://www.lvs.com.au/packages/total-transformation/

If you would like to show your love and support online click the link below for my mums instagram page!

https://www.instagram.com/rainas_journey/

Help bring my mum back to her healthy, beautiful self like in this photo! NAMASTE