Hi everyone, this page will close at the end of next week (Sunday 16th June). Thank you to everyone who has donated. Your kindness and generosity have been incredibly helpful.
Thank you on behalf of Sam's family x
Hi everyone,
Sam sadly passed away last night with his family beside him.
Some of the donation money that has already been generously given by you all went towards his immunotherapy treatment. What remains (and any further donations made to this Givealittle account) will now go to Sam's family to help support his four boys. We will keep this page open for a few weeks.
We also understand that in such situations some of you may wish to send flowers to the family. We ask that instead of this, donations be made to The Auckland City Mission in Sam’s honour.
https://www.aucklandcitymission.org.nz/donate/
Sam’s funeral service will be held on Monday 13th May at St Matthew-in-the-City at midday. All are welcome.
With love
Sam’s family x
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, Sam’s cancer has progressed, and he is not strong enough to continue treatment. Sam is being cared for by the wonderful team at Mercy Hospice, surrounded by his whānau.
We know some of you would like to visit but unfortunately, Sam is not well enough. Please know that he feels your love and support.
This page will remain open for the time being, with funds redirected to support Sam’s family.
Arohanui
We are so, so sorry that Sam's treatment hasn't managed to kill his cancer. Our deepest love to him and to all of you. We are thinking of you all. Very pleased that you are all in the tender care of Mercy Hospice - I was there for a week in January with my sister and her partner - found it to be a wonderful place, with incredibly supportive and caring staff and volunteers. Hope you do too.
I am so sorry to hear this. Sending you all our love.
I’m sure you will be glad to know that the immunotherapy comes with wonderful private system benefits such as cheese and ham toasties, tea, coffee, muffins… and lollies of course. As we’ve only just started, I can’t relay any miraculous results but hope to do so in a future episode. I can say that the radiotherapy has so far been really successful. The pain in my shoulder blade had rendered my arm completely unusable earlier this year – now I can put my hand up in class, hang washing, play the drums with ease (to Sophie’s disdain), hitch a ride to Kawerau if I so desire... Hopefully this is a sign that my body will receive all this other treatment well.
Once again, much love and thanks to all of you for your support! We are excited and hopeful about the potential for the Pembro/Keytruda (immunotherapy treatment) to obliterate the baddies in my body. Let the battle begin. Noho ora tonu e hoa mā x
Hi all,
Kate here. Sharing an update from Sam & Sophie that is too long for the character limit allowed here, but too important and beautiful to edit. So I'm going to share in two updates.
From our family, thank you.
Kia ora e te whānau. It’s been a while so time for the next episode of our journey through the world of cancer treatment. Since the last episode much has happened, including two hospital admissions (both weeklong stays), two radiotherapy treatments (lower spine, left shoulder for one and the right hip/pelvis area for the other), three chemo infusions (on my new chemo treatment, Paclitaxel) and one immunotherapy infusion. We’ve had times experiencing pain, nausea and losing mobility; we've had other times with hope, movement and an ability to enjoy food again (lately I’ve had a particular craving for lollies - the steroids apparently).
We are finally now settling into a rhythm with treatment that begins today as I write this. The weekly schedule looks like this: I go to work for half the week from Monday. I head to the hospital Wednesday afternoon for a weekly dose of chemo, then head home for the rest of the week to recover. Every third week Wednesday is a bit more full on as I also get my dose of immunotherapy. It is thanks to all of you that this is possible!
Kia ora e te whānau, It is incredibly humbling to receive this level of generosity! It is not very fun being so publicly vulnerable however this has been a surprisingly powerful conduit for reconnection and for making new connections. It doesn't cease to amaze us who has popped up from past and present, near and far, to support our cause. Thank you to everyone who has contributed through donations, words of support, by sharing and spreading the word. Collective action achieves amazing things!
I’m currently in hospital on a continued journey of investigation, treatment planning and pain mitigation - exciting times! But this givealittle journey has made this process a lot less stressful and made us feel a lot less alone.
We are now able to afford the initial course of immunotherapy treatment and have some extra for the additional financial challenges coming our way.
Will keep you updated when time allows - stay tuned for the next episode! Much love to all of you.
Ngā mini nui
Sam & Sophie
