Sorry for the lack of updates….Haley has been doing her best to hold down her job, get her treatments, care for her family, recover from her Ovary removal surgery in December and recover from COVID.
Most importantly though they have been trying to make memories! They went as a family to a stunning house in Pauanui with the Valois family, hiked up Mount Pauanui, paddle boarded, and hung out in the spa tub. And Haley recently went to Queenstown with Karleen for more respite and did more hiking up The Remarkables etc. While she was there she visited the famous Bradrona, a fence line covered in Bras and a donation site for The Breast Cancer Foundation of NZ
Haley and Tony are also due to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary in August.
Haley is currently suffering a setback in that she has Mastitis in the breast with the Mass, not a complication that is needed right now but she’s getting through it as she can.
So what has been happening in the last few months with Haley and her treatments?
In December Haley underwent surgery to remove her Ovaries to help stop the hormone supply to the cancers. In typical Haley style she discharged herself home a few hours after the operation. Recovery was hard and seems there was a few complications during surgery but that hurdle has been overcome now and Haley is now managing menopause
In January Haley had an updated scan that was AMAZING! (breast mass shrunk from 21mm to 14mm, no signs of cancer in the armpit lymph nodes, liver lesion all gone, lungs improving but still innumerable lesions, and found 3 spots on the spine that look like they are responding to treatment). In the months leading up to this scan Haley had been using the Givealittle funds to use alternative therapies aggressively in conjunction with traditional medicine and the scan shows the combination was working well.
Unfortunately the infusions of Vitamin C had to be dropped back due to costs and supply issues and her veins were starting to get damaged (common in patients relying on multiple access times a week) and it was making finding a vein hard. So the infusions dropped from 2 a week at 90gm to 1 infusion every 7 to 10 days with 60 to 80gm hoping that would help with the veins.
Haley had her next scan in May which showed that there was absolutely NO change besides the breast mass increased to 16mm.
In light of this the plateau and the slight increase in the breast mass Haley is now trying to increase her supplementary therapies to the previous levels again as it appears that it was working! Lesions and Masses were shrinking.
To counter the problems with the veins Haley has called in other expert IV starter nurses to help and when she has a line put in for scans etc she asks that it’s left in so she can do an infusion that day. And she had increased back to her twice a week infusions all to kickstart the cancer shrinking process again
But as you can imagine all these treatments cost money and lots of it!
Haley has been told by her GP that she needs to stop working but she can’t as that work is what pays for the alternative treatments now that the original Givealittle donation money has been used. She is getting run down trying to do it all, getting 3 kids ready and off to school and day care, working while they are away, picking them up, getting dinner sorted, house sorted, kids in bed etc. Tony is working his hardest too, putting in extra hours so they have food on the table and a house to live in, but his job is very physical so that makes it hard for him to have energy at the end of the day to help out but he does his very best, especially on nights with her infusions where he his both a dad a nurse.
Despite all this stress and worry our gorgeous Haley is still smiling, dreaming and cooking up her fabulous plans and you don’t hear her complaining even on those horrible tough days.
So we wanted to give you an insight into what it costs to fight Haley’s Stage 4 Metastatic cancer with the addition of alternative therapies and where you’re previous amazing donations have been spent. They helped to fund just short of 6mths treatment for Haley
Haley uses, on Specialist advice, the following things over the course of a month in addition to her conventional treatments and prescription medicines:
•Homeopathic drops
•Lipoic Acid
•Reishi mushroom capsules
•Magnesium powder
•Vitamin C infusions
•Chiropractic care
The costs for these treatments and doctor visits cost Haley and Tony $2900NZD per month on average. Without Haley administering her own IV infusion these costs would be much higher and given the issues with her veins there will come a time that Haley won’t be able to administer herself anymore.
These costs are over and above the cost of living which has increased dramatically here in NZ. Rent, power, fuel, internet, food, daycare, clothing etc all is on top. Given that treatment equates to nearly $35,000NZD a year and the cost of living as a family of 5 is much more than that (they don’t live an extravagant lifestyle) you can imagine that this is a huge burden to them right now that they don’t need. Haley and her doctor have tried unsuccessfully a number of times to apply to WINZ for financial assistance of some sort but do not meet the criteria so have been declined.
Haley and Tony have been blown away by everyone’s support since this journey began in June 2021, but we all want to see these masses shrinking and to do that we need funds to enable these therapies that were so effective prior to her January scan.
So what can you do? Donations of money are always appreciated no matter how big or small the amount is, but also donations of time to help around the house or take a load of Haley and Tony. Do you have a fundraising idea that people could execute? Can you share Haley’s story to raise awareness both for her and other patients in their own fights? Please let us know. Any help no matter what it is will be greatly appreciated.
This has always been a marathon not a sprint and there’s still a long road to go to give Haley, Tony and their family the miracle of remission that they are working for.
