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Help Amy and her family fight cancer

  • Life goes on

      4 November 2021
    Posted by: Amy Ewald
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    Hi all! I just thought I should pop by with an update as to how we are all doing :)

    Life is good! Things have been great - my 3 monthly meetings with the oncologist is now 6 monthly meetings, which is a good sign. As much as we like her, the less we see of her in a professional capacity, the better! The resurgence of Covid has been a little worrying, so we try to keep our contact with people who are not in our bubble minimal, but there's only so much we can do without being hermits.

    I also wanted to come on here to say a very massive thank you to all of you who helped us out financially during our difficult time. It is very much appreciated. I made a promise to donate the rest of the funds (if any) to the cancer society when my treatment was completed, and I think that I mentioned on a post either here or on Facebook that we utilized most (if not all of the money). A promise is a promise though, and I did want to make sure I pay it forward, so I have been donating to various cancer societies as the opportunity arises :D I will continue to pay it forward as and when we can in honour of all of you. Know that your kind and generous act is continuing to live on to this day, as I will continue passing it on!!

    Stay well, keep safe and take care during these uncertain times. God bless xxxx

    ps - I think most of you know that I'm writing a book about my journey, and I'm excited to announce that I'm now up to chapter 8 of the draft! I'm probably about halfway there? Send me an email: amy.hoo.ewald@gmail.com if you want to be notified of updates as well as when it comes out - I'm not sure how I'm going to publish just yet, but if you're interested, I would love to get a copy into your hands then somehow!

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  • Cancer be gone!

      2 September 2020
    Posted by: Amy Ewald

    Hi everyone, I am thrilled to announce that the results of my scan are out and that I'm in remission!! Woop woop - let the party begin!

    Thank you all so very much for your support, prayers, kind thoughts and words. Our family is truly grateful for all the love we've received from each and every one of you. It has been a bit of a wild ride, but God willing, now things can get back to normal. Truth be told, I'm feeling just a touch lost - it has been all centered on cancer and fighting cancer for the last 6 months. The oncologist did say that I'm still on a short leash for the next 2-5 years. It'll be constant monitoring and every little sniffle/rash/itch will be scrutinized to ensure it's not a symptom of relapse. But onwards and upwards it is! A positive mindset and attitude got me this far, so I've no plans on regressing anytime soon!

    This will be the last update I post, hopefully. No news is good news, right? Thank you all once again, I know I'm repeating myself, but words cannot express how grateful we are for all of you and your generosity. Take care, and God bless. Lots of love xxx

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  • PET scan next week!

      20 August 2020
    Posted by: Amy Ewald

    Hi all,

    Me with another update! It has been six++ weeks since my last chemo cycle and things have been going great. My hair is starting to grow back (yay for eyebrows!) and I've been feeling great overall. The radiology department called me yesterday - they've scheduled me a PET scan for next week. The results of this scan will determine if I'm considered to be in remission or if we have to go on to round 2. Please keep me in your prayers/thoughts if you can - they will be very very much appreciated :) I will update you all on here again once I hear back. Thank you all so much for your support! Lots of love, Amy xxx

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  • God willing, we're done!!!

      11 July 2020
    Posted by: Amy Ewald
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    Update!! It has been a while since Nikki or I hae posted one of these - my apologies. The last 2 cycles have been rough. Rougher than the previous ones (which my oncologist said is to be expected), due to the accumulation of the chemicals in my body. The good news is I'm done! At least at this stage...yay! My IV line came out on Thursday, and while I've got a couple of bruises, the skin should heal up in no time 👍 From here on, it's a waiting game. My next PET scan will be in Agusut sometime, and we'll find out then if I'm cancer-free. If it is, praise the Lord! I'll then be on close observation for the next few months if not years. If the scan doesn't come back clean, then we move on to plan B. But let's not even go there! We're all remaining as positive as we can, and God willing, this is now a thing of the past! Please continue praying for us, all the wishes and prayers have kept us strong throughout this trying time, so thank you all so so much!

    On another note thank you all so so much for contributing to this page! We've used quite a bit of the funds for childcare, supplementing my (and Rod's) income over the lockdown and initial chemo period, our travel and accommodation costs for chemo, doctor visits, scans, prescription costs, and HEATING. As you all know, it has been cold here and usually we'd be happy to rug up a little for the sake of saving a few dollars. This winter however, we've been very very cautious with colds (especially with the kids) because anything they get, no matter how mild, I get a full blown version of it and it takes me a whole lot longer to recover. So thanks to you all, we've been able to live warm and try avoid bringing the colds into our household. We've got a few more weeks of the cold snap coming our way if metservice is right, so hopefully the funds will cover that! I did say if there's any left over, that I'll donate it to the cancer society. At this stage, I don't know if there will be much, if any, remaining. However, if there isn't, I do promise that once we're in a better financial position again, that I will donate some of our own funds or raise some funds for the cancer society myself. As some of you may know, I'm trying to write a book (keyword being trying haha!) and once that gets out and hopefully make a bit of a profit, my plan is for some of that to go towards the cancer society!

    Righty-o! Enough rambling already. Thank you all so very much for being on this journey with me! I don't know at this stage if it's over yet, and to be honest, it'll probably never be over. We'll always be worried whenever I fall ill, no matter how mild, because it could be the cancer returning. But God has been great throughout all this, and we'll keep the faith that He knows what's best. In the meantime, let's all live life to the fullest - we're all only here once, so let's make the best of what we're given! Lots of love to you all ♥️♥️♥️♥️

    PS - lockdown and chemo combined haven't been good for my arms have they?! Need to work on some biceps now! 💪

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  • Progress Report

      20 May 2020

    Hey friends,

    Amy got the results of her full body scans a few weeks ago, and overall the news is good! Her cancer is responding well to the treatments, however her doctors want to continue with the full course of treatment to give her the best chance at beating this 😊 This means 4 more rounds and then another scan, so a few more months before the next results.

    Again Amy and her family want to pass on their thanks for the donations received so far, it's helping with all their bills and allowed Rod to take some extra leave from work to support Amy and the kids.

    We'll update again when we know more, keep sending your prayers and positive thoughts her way 😁

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  • Round two!

      10 April 2020
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    Amy has hit the ground running after her first week off chemo, which she spent dancing at home with Lucas and Holly trying to get them to burn off some energy! Being stuck at home in this corona pandemic is providing new challenges for everyone! She's got a pretty stunning wig now, a photos been added for those who want to see what she went with - she was planning on a hot pink do! She's now half way through her second round of chemo.

    Since her parents can't travel to NZ they're providing emotional support and chats from a distance. The money raised is making a huge difference, allowing Amy and Rod to pay for daily childcare when she's travelling to the hospital for chemo. It's also going to pay for her and Rods trip to chch in a few weeks for some scans after this next round of chemo, so keep checking back for an update!

    Thanks again to everyone for their support, financial and emotional, let's get Amy and her family though this 😊

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  • Starting treatment

      20 March 2020

    Hi everyone, just a quick update on Amy! She's started her first cycle of chemotherapy this week, up to day 5 and going strong. Unfortunately due to the border shut down her parents have been unable to fly to nz yet. The plan is to get them here as soon as possible. So far some money has been used for daily travel to and from the hospital as well as prescriptions, of which she has a whole shopping list full! Keep sending Amy your prayers and good vibes, they're all appreciated 😊

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