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Help keep mum swimming!

  • Keep on Keeping On

      23 April 2020
    Posted by: Katherine (Kate) Jane Wills
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    Time on our hands, time for an update. All is going well, I am still alive, thank you everybody.... I am still aiming for 20 years ! 😊

    So….It came as a complete surprise to Kelly and I that, although we were told on first consultation with our private oncologist the primary drugs for Bowel Cancer (FOLFIRI) were "Government Funded", in fact they are not in all circumstances completely Govt. Funded, in that if you are under private care (which I am in order to receive the Avastin), that the "Govt. Funded" drugs actually have to be paid for by you or your insurer. Yesterday we found out that because of this, my private insurance cover has maxed out (which we did not expect), and that I will have to pay far more costs than originally expected to continue with the Chemotherapy that seems to be working so well!. There is a solution that I can get the FOLFIRI from a DHB Hospital, but they cannot administer the Avastin, so I have to get my running shoes on and run between two hospitals! The Avastin has been almost covered, but because I have already paid out for the Government Funded drugs, there are still more costs mounting up. It is quite daunting to think this is going to go on for 10 or more years. The last thing I ever want to do was leave my daughter with a debt after my death.

    The donations we have received so far are incredibly generous, particularly right now in the circumstances of COVID-19, where a lot of you will be financially suffering from job losses or downturn of business. We will be looking to raise funds on an ongoing basis and appreciate each and every one of you, so sorry if we don’t get completely on to of it and thank you personally.

    Thank you thank you thank you. Stay well, stay safe. See you out and about soon, I hope!

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  • Update from Kate!

      15 January 2020
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    A huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far. Every little bit counts towards getting the best and longest outcome.

    Almost 9 months past diagnosis, I have recovered 100% from brain surgery and radiation with no side effects lingering at all (apart from talking too much, but it seems this hasn’t changed!!). The chemotherapy has been working, with tumours shrinking and blood cancer markers back down to what could almost be called “normal”. The additional drug that we are able to afford through your kind donations, I believe, makes a huge difference.

    Chemotherapy has been tough, but I have been very lucky that my previous fitness has carried me though this as well as could be hoped. Your donations are such a big part of this. Stage IV Metastaic Bowel cancer is incurable with very low survival rates, but it seems I may be a lucky one, an “outlier” that flies through the longest possible survival. Let’s keep believing… Unfortunately, that still means years and years of relentless chemotherapy and whatever other procedures this cancer throws my way, which is where your donations come in so importantly. So far, so good.

    Last weekend I competed in the Epic Swim event in Taupo, and while not medalling as I have consistently done in the past, I have to accept a mind shift and realise that I still managed to put out a better than average performance and remain in the top ten. This is a good sign for the years to come, and this is what we are trying to achieve by being able to afford all the drug options that might be available now and in the future.

    Thank you for helping our belief become reality and helping me to survive for my daughter in the best way possible.

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