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Mum and Dad both diagnosed with Stage 4 (terminal) lung cancer (non-smokers)

  • Update on Mery's treatments

      25 July 2022

    The outpouring of love and support for Graham and Mery’s plight continues to amaze everyone involved. It has only been seventeen days since we have reached out the public for support and we have just about hit our increased fundraising goal. Many thanks to everyone who has donated to help support them in their tragic circumstances.

    Mery has been in the hospital for almost a month. The boys naturally need their mum and this separation has been difficult for them. Despite as many hospital visits in a week as possible, it’s just not the same as having mum at home.

    Mery’s cancer unfortunately spread aggressively into her femur (thigh bone) and destabilised it so much that she could not walk without a very high risk of breaking it. If her leg had broken it would have delayed her chemotherapy which, in turn, would have been life threatening. The doctors placed a steel rod into her upper leg and pinned it through the femur bone (above and below the cancer area). The surgery was successful with no complications. This has allowed Mery to begin her chemotherapy treatment. She has had one session each of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. She has had no serious side-effects for the treatments.

    Mery is in a lot of pain now but getting better every day. It’s amazing to witness how strong she is as she soldiers on with such high spirits. She will need rehab treatment to walk and regain strength in her leg. This will take a while. It is estimated to take at least a couple of months.

    Graham has been responding well to his treatments. It appears that his cancer has stabilised for now. His focus has been ensuring that Mery gets her treatments in a timely fashion to keep her here as long as possible.

      4 comments  |  Login to leave a comment

    • 25/07/2022 by bob

      Keep up the good fight.We are all wishing you well again.

    • 25/07/2022 by Grant

      Jeez that is a tough fight you have got on your hands. Wishing you all the best. Hang in there.

    • 25/07/2022 by Amy J Brooke

      All who know about this wonderful couple are hoping so much for the very best outcome. Bless you all.

    • 26/07/2022 by Felicity

      I'm glad the docs figured out a way to stabilise Mery's leg and she has started on her chemo/immunotherapy journey, that may be a hard one but one day at a time. Good luck to both of you and the boys

  • First year of treatment goal met... New goal for second year of treatment.

      14 July 2022

    Many thanks to all the donors who have contributed to help Graham and Mery get the treatment they need to be with their boys for as long as possible. The phenomenal outpouring of love and support has been nothing short of amazing. It has been such a heartwarming and humbling experience to be part of this fund raising effort.

    It has been a week since the page first went up. We never expected the response to be so immediate and so generous. Many thanks to Torika Tokalau and Stuff for their article about Graham and Mery's situation. That article, in addition to other news outlets picking up the story, brought this tragic story to a much wider audience and really accelerated the number and amount of donations to levels that we never expected to see so quickly. The look of relief on Graham's face as the donations came in was wonderful to see. Every donor should be proud to have done their bit to help relieve Graham and Mery of the financial stress that they were facing. Thanks again to every one of you!

    Mery had the surgery last week to insert a rod into her leg to reinforce her thigh bone that had been severely eroded by cancer. The surgery went well and Mery is expected to begin her chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments in the next few days.

    We have reached our goal to cover the first year of treatment for Graham and Mery in just under a week. We never imagined that the goal could be reached so quickly. Thanks again to every one who has contributed. Every dollar is greatly appreciated by Graham and Mery.

    Wanting to provide Graham and Mery with as much peace of mind as possible we will be increasing the goal to $315,000. This increase will cover the anticipated costs for their second year of treatment.

      2 comments  |  Login to leave a comment

    • 25/07/2022 by charlene

      My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with you all 🥰 Love and blessings from my whanau and I ❤️😘❤️😘❤️😘❤️

    • 26/07/2022 by Murray

      thanks for the update - you remain in our prayers.