Funding for Phils' Cancer Treatment- Help him get some extra time he doesn’t have

Helping to nurse his mother until her death following brain cancer, Philip never thought that he too would be faced with the same fate. Diagnosed with stage 4 Glioblastoma in December 2019 saw the lives of Philip and his loved ones come to a screaming halt. He was told that his life expectancy was 18-24 months.

Philip had been independent and outgoing as an active fisherman, doting Uncle and Papa and a loving father, brother, partner and son. Christmas 2019 saw Philip recovering from brain surgery to remove a 6.5cm tumor in his brain. Surgery did not provide a permanent fix and resulted in partial degenerative blindness and short term memory loss. Undergoing 6 weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in Hamilton, meant that Philip was away from his home, his dogs and his family - who juggled life and children to make sure he had someone with him 24/7. Philip returned home just before lockdown and completed a further 6 months of chemotherapy at home.

After a follow up MRI in November 2020, there was an increase of symptoms resulting in Philip sleeping for the majority of the day, suffering painful headaches and unsteadiness on his feet, a life line was thrown. This January 2021 the specialist told Philip that he has 3 months as the new tumor formed in the same space as the old one will aggressively take hold. This is unfortunately inoperable.

In order to increase his time from 3 to 6 months, the specialist team have offered a treatment plan to prolong the inevitable and enjoy his time with his family and more importantly his niece Thalia who has been a constant mate and distraction while he has undergone his treatment. This treatment will provide a much higher quality of life as well. He will be having daily chemotherapy of further Temozolomide and triweekly infusions of Avastin.

Avastin is not funded and is going to cost a total of $32,553.07

Our blended English and Maori whanau have done everything we can to support Philip to enjoy the time he has left with his partner and those he cares about, but we are in need of help with his non funded treatment so that he can celebrate milestones like Thalias 3rd birthday in May and his birthday in June.

Even if its just as little as $5 to support, everything will help. We want nothing more than for Philip to be able to celebrate his life while he is able to and continue to share some quality time with his partner, children, family and special niece Thalia.