Babs' Cancer Treatment

On the 29th March 2019 Babs (age 54 from Takaka, Golden Bay) was diagnosed with stage 4 oesophageal cancer. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and liver. She began chemo treatment straight away and the results have been amazing. While the treatment is harsh and leaves Babs feeling tired and lousy, her liver function has improved and the tumours have decreased in size.

Genetic testing of the cancer has shown that Babs would benefit from immunotherapy (Herceptin) a drug which has been shown to target this particular type of cancer but is not funded in New Zealand. The treatment will cost NZ$42,000 for the drug and NZ$22,000 to administer the drug.

A GoFundMe page was setup to raise funds for the drug itself by Teresa (Babs' daughter in the UK) and is available to donate to. However, we were later informed that the drug cannot be given in the NZ public health system - the cost of administering the drug is an additional $1,200 every 3 weeks plus travel costs. Our funding difficulties were recently highlighted in the Nelson Mail (see link below).

Babs will be starting treatment on Tuesday 13 Aug 2019

Babs is a devoted wife to Mark and mother to Teresa, Sebastian, George and Lorna and a grandmother to 7. She always goes above and beyond to help friends, family and strangers. It's now our turn to give back to her, please help us to raise the money needed for the cancer treatment to give her the best chance of a long life.

Follow Babs' journey at her blog: https://strongthroughcancer.blogspot.com/?m=1