Help Dionne "get busy with living"

Dionne was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2012. It was a devastating moment made all the more difficult by the fact she was 11 weeks pregnant and longing to become a mum for the first time.

It is with deep sadness that I update this page with the news that Dionne died while being cared for at Mercy Hospice on Monday 27 April.

She had a difficult decision to make, but in typical Dionne fashion she went with her heart, and despite the risk to herself, decided to keep the baby, whilst undergoing treatment for aggressive stage three cancer.

As with any cancer sufferer once the diagnosis is made and treatment begins, normal life recedes into the distance. The added complication of Dionne’s pregnancy made for some extremely challenging times for Dionne, and her husband Kris.

You can learn more about Dionne’s ongoing treatment and breast reconstruction surgery by reading this 2014 Sunday Star Times feature [ www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10076801/Dionne-smiles-through-breast-cancer ] in which Dionne was brave enough to give everyone an insight into a very personal journey.

After that article was written Dionne’s cancer stubbornly recurred and she was treated with palliative chemotherapy in an attempt to keep it at bay. It was a journey with more lows than highs, but it is a journey that Dionne was determined to forge ahead with.

Despite everything cancer threw at her, Dionne remained the loving, beautiful, and optimistic person her friends, colleagues and family have always known her to be. But she now needs your help too, as she says in the article, “get busy with living”. Her desire to see her darling two-and-a-half year old son Sam (now a walking, talking bundle of joy) grow and prosper keeps her strong, and with your support she can explore alternative cancer therapies, which at the moment, are out of reach due to their cost.