Help Larissa (La) Achieve Her Dream Wedding In New Zealand

LARISSA’S (La) STORY

After moving to Australia to be with her family 23-year-old Kiwi Born Larissa’s life dramatically changes as she finds herself starting the FIGHT of a lifetime. A journey of strength, courage, heartbreak, miracles & love.

On Friday 28th February 2014 Larissa discovers a lump on one of her breasts, she undergoes Tests & a Biopsy to determine the cause.

On Thursday 6th March Doctors confirm that she has Triple Negative Breast Cancer. No time was spared & on Tuesday 25th March Larissa went into Surgery to have the dreaded lump removed. After further research she learns that she has the BRCAI Genetic Gene -

Things were about to get real.

Not long after her REAL Journey begins....................

Friday 16th May 2014 Larissa begins her first round of Chemotherapy.

With so many ups & downs along the way & many more to face; She soon realises that she has so many decisions to make on her life & her Treatment process. With feelings & emotions so raw & all over the place, Larissa’s worst fears come to light when Doctors inform her that she will NEVER be able to have children of her own - her biggest Dream was shattered, but in true Larissa style she held her head high & pushed on with her Fight, with even more determination.

Even with Chemo being torturous & leaving her exhausted, emotional & constantly sick, Larissa, with her bubbly personality & humour stayed humble & kept shining. Showing us all just what she was capable of & how strong she really was within herself. Even when she lost her Hair; A week after her first round of Chemo. It only took 7 HOURS for all her Hair to fall out, once it started, but still she never let it bring her down.

On Sunday 1st June she Posted on Facebook to show the World that even after losing most of her hair after that 1 round of Chemo that - ‘BALD’ can be & IS beautiful.

As if that wasn’t enough, in October she also started on a course of Radiation - 5 times a week for the next 6 weeks.

Thankfully, Treatment seemed to be working & finally on Wednesday 10th December 2014 she was told that she was CANCER FREE!!!

Relief, tears (happy ones) & hope for happier times ahead & the plans for a Double Mastectomy began.

While on her Journey Larissa has meet some incredible people & been privileged to take part in some amazing opportunities. One of which was getting involved with Canteen. During November/December 2014 she met the love of her life, the man that was to become her Fiancé, her Strength & Saviour - Stevie Shaw, and they started Dating in April 2015.

They shared many things, one of which was the dreaded Cancer. Stevie was diagnosed with Cancer as a child & lost a Leg to the Disease. Because of his Stump he has difficulty wearing a Prosthetic Limb & is usually on Crutches or in a Wheelchair. Stevie is currently in Remission.

Even though at times things get difficult for them, they soldier on with life & have become even stronger together.

Unfortunately, though the Powers That Be weren’t finished with her yet. At the end of June 2015 Larissa is urgently Hospitalised - she had contracted Meningcogal Meningitis. An Illness that, just like Cancer can be fatal especially if the Immune System is still recovering after Chemo. Panic hit us all as we waited to hear any news. Prayers were spoken & Vigils kept as Larissa laid Lost for the next 5 DAYS of her Life. When she finally becomes more lucid she is oblivious to how many days it had been or what had gone on. Yet, her whacky, weird sense of humour was fully intact & jokes started to fly. To this day, her Mum always remembers one particular conversation -

Larissa: “Hey Mum, how long you been here?

Yvonne: 3 days

Larissa: Ha-ha that’s funny aye?

Yvonne: What’s funny?

Larissa: (laughing now) -” Cancer can’t Kill Me..... Meningitis can’t Kill Me.....

You’re Stuck with Me”

Larissa REFUSED to let them Win & again she showed the Pure Will she had to live & Fight. And, yes, she Beat the Odds again & now knew how Short life can really be.

By the end of the year both Larissa & Stevie knew they were meant to be together for the long haul & announced their Engagement on Friday 11th December 2015.

Although, they both knew that kids weren’t going to happen for them they were happy, they were in love. So, they went on with their lives just happy to be alive & together.

April 2016 - With everything that had been thrown at her since she was first diagnosed Larissa wasn’t expecting to receive the greatest news of her life..........

She was PREGNANT!! This meant that her plans to have a Mastectomy & Reconstruction Surgery had to be put on hold. She couldn’t have been happier, she was going to be a Mother after all.

In August 2016 they were blessed with their little Miracle Baby Boy - Jaylen. Life was great. They settled in as new parents & started the plans for Breast Surgery again. They set a Date for their Wedding - 16th February 2019 in Taranaki, NZ & began planning their Simple Dream Wedding.

Early in 2017 while at an appointment for her upcoming Surgery she was informed that Surgery had to be postponed yet again. Feeling gutted she prepared herself for the worst, but instead was told she was PREGNANT again. Unbelievable to be doubly blessed with a second child.

September saw them welcome their gorgeous Baby Girl - Karma (a most fitting Name) into their lives. With Feelings that her Family was now complete she opted to have her Tubes removed, to lower the risk of getting Ovarian Cancer & for the third time began the process of getting rid of ‘those BOOBS’ once & for all.

Life was becoming normal, happy & exciting. Wedding plans were taking shape, Deposits made, Wedding Dress purchased & Reconstruction Surgery booked in. Finally, they were living their dream.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.....................ROADBLOCK!!!

In June 2018 Larissa discovered a new Lump on her other Boob. Feeling devastated knowing that Cancer hadn’t finished with her yet she goes back to the Doctors for more Tests & Biopsies.

Doctors moved quickly & Surgery was done on Wednesday 18th July - BYE BYE BOOBS!!!

During Surgery they removed Lymph Nodes - 24 in total, with 9 being Cancerous.

On 24th Tuesday July with the help of her big sister Cynthia, whom had flown over from NZ, she once again showed her COURAGE & publicly released full Images to the World of her NEW Body - Captioning them “THE RAW BEAUTY OF MYFIGHT WITH CANCER”. Wanting to display the true Beauty within & to show

Cancer that she was taking back her POWER, her LIFE & wasn’t going to let it win.

Larissa starts her second round of Chemo on Thursday 16th August. It’s going to be more gruelling this time as Doctors are hitting it hard with 2 different types of Chemo for 12 weeks, then a different 2 types every fortnight for 8 weeks. After New Year Larissa is meant to start Radiation Treatment. However, she has informed Doctors than she won’t be doing that until AFTER her Wedding in February 2019.

In her words………...” My Wedding was planned before the Cancer returned, so it can just bloody wait!”.

Unfortunately, because Larissa is a Kiwi living in Australia she doesn’t qualify for any Financial Assistance from the Government to help out & with the new Law changes Stevie no longer qualifies for Disability Allowance. So, with work about to drop off it’s not looking good for her Dream Wedding.

We don’t feel that this is very fair on the Powers above to be doing this to such a beautiful, thoughtful & courageous woman & hate the thought that she may have to postpone her Simple Dream Wedding & therefore lose everything they have already paid deposits on.

I have known Larissa since she was a young child & love her as though she is my daughter, she is considered part of our Family. Larissa & my Daughter Tash are best Friends & Tash has the Honour of being her Maid of Honour. A role that Tash has taken very seriously & she is in full swing making sure that Larissa’s wishes are meet.

We hate the thought that she might consider postponing her Wedding after everything she has already done for it & with all she has been through.

So, both Tash & I would like to do everything we can to ease Larissa’s burdens at this time in her life & to help make her Wedding Dreams a Reality.

Thank you to all that have taken the time to Read Larissa’s Story, please Share it & help us bring Larissa Home for her Wedding.

If you have any questions or wish to know more or want to offer Services or Items towards the Wedding by all means please Contact myself, Lauren Woods or Tash Sowerby.