Fight for Diane Sanderson and her family in their battle against Cancer

Summary:

Diane, her partner John and their family have been thrown into the grips of what comes with Cancer. The implications of this illness has to date put extreme pressure on them not only mentally and physically but financially too.

The cost of treatment of which she has paid for to date has exhausted anything that they had put aside for the future. Whilst Radiation and Chemotherapy treatment seemed to be keeping Diane in a good place this changed in October when she was left without any cover treatment which resulted in a sudden decline in her health where in her words, "Its kicking my arse now," couldn't be a more accurate account of where she is at now. For her and John, a round of treatment is a week away from home in Auckland. Financially this meant, both her and John were off work, the young ones cared for by one of their older children, the costs of transport, accommodation and paying for treatment....

Since my first attempt at starting this page for them they have both had to stop work as she is no longer able to fend for herself and therefore there is now no longer any income coming in.

Keytruda treatment a relatively new form of treatment which has had some very positive results in treating patients with Cancer in multiple locations like Dianes prognosis has been approved for her to undertake. However the down side of this is that she must fund treatment upto just short of $100,000.00 then after that it will be covered by Pharmac. If she had a Melanoma Cancer it wouldn't cost her a thing!!

Our aim is to try and help to raise funds to support Diane and John in ensuring that they get the treatment and care and support that they need, and that they are financially supported to cover living costs, they are able to continue to pay their mortgage and are able to keep some sort of normality in the house for the boys who are both under 10.

AND SO IT BEGINS:

Diane,

A wife, a mother, a daughter, a grandmother, a work mate, a boss and my baby sister!!

The youngest child of 5, Diane now 46, has had to fight the odd battle or 2 to keep her head above water from time to time. Her stubbornness and strong will has helped her to “get through stuff,” and propelled her into achieving more than the average kid growing up in the sticks or back blocks of rural New Zealand, “for those who don’t get it.”

She and her partner John have been together since she was a blushing teenager and they have definitely had their fair share of grief and pain. What is so evident though and so beautiful to see is their undivided love and support for each other. They have been blessed with “True Love,” something that not all couples can lay claim to. They have brought up three beautiful girls or should I say young ladies and two young lads both under the age of 10. Their house is full of love and we would like to keep it that way.

Diane’s accomplishments have been many. For almost 30 years she has given of her time to the Department of Conservation in which she originally started as a volunteer slash casual employee working at Trounson Park and Waipoua Forest. Throughout her time with Doc she has accumulated a roll call of experience, knowledge and skills to a level as such that she was the person training the new Managers coming on board. Eventually she decided to give it a crack herself instead of training everyone up because she was always the only one still there once these Managers decided to move on. So in 2016 she applied for the Managers Job and was successful in gaining the position. Little did she know that her new job would co-inside with the biggest battle that she has ever had to face!

Her many skills and experience in Emergency Response events has seen her being one of a crew dispatched to Christchurch in 2011 immediately after the devastating New Zealand earthquake which saw a Hugh loss of life and left scars on the land and in the eye of many.

This skill base and experience was also utilised in Canada where she was one of a New Zealand Contingent of 15 deployed to help battle the destructive 2015 Canadian Wild fires. She was tasked with being the Logistics Manager responsible for co-ordinating the supply of firefighting resources used in fighting the huge 200 square kilometre fire front.

In New Zealand as part of her everyday job it was not uncommon to see her involved in Missing Persons Search and Rescue, Firefighting, Marine Mammal Strandings and the list goes on……

So yes, she has been there and done that. The above though is just a snippet of the many services she has given of to her Family, her Career and her Country.

SO PLEASE SHE DESERVES A HAND – PLEASE HELP HER AND JOHN TO KEEP IT ALL TOGETHER AND GIVE THEM HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

BECAUSE CANCER TAKES-TAKES-TAKES AND KEEPS ON TAKING

YOUR BODY, YOUR STRENGTH, YOUR ENERGY, YOUR TIME, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR LOVE, YOUR JOB, YOUR LIFE AND YOUR MONEY

EVEN AFTER YOU ARE GONE

Timeline

2012

Diane is ambulanced to Hospital on a number of occasions: Experiencing Heart palpitations, shortness of breath. Hard to Breath and thinks she maybe having a heart attack. Admitted for observation and heart monitored.

Diagnosis: Anxiety, Stress and Lifestyle, all in her head! Small shadows noted on her lungs but “nothing to worry about.” Discharged and required to carry a mobile monitor. Whenever she felt a palpitation coming on she was to ring a number and hold the phone up to the monitor for analysis!!

Another occasion advised she had pneumonia and was prescribed Ventolin

2016

September to December

Symptoms: Experiencing immense pain in left shoulder, consistent dry cough, shortness of breath and overall fatigued.

Diagnosis: Acute Muscle Tension, Pulled Muscles in Shoulder – Chest Infection

Treatment: Anti-inflammatory medications, analgesia pain meds and multiple intra-muscular hydrocortisone injections to shoulder and physiotherapy which caused a lot of pain, discomfort and distress

22/12/2016 - Revisit - D Day

Symptoms: Shoulder worse, Coughing out of control, Hard to breath, and Coughing up lots of blood.

Analysis: Shit something is really wrong!!

Treatment: Chest X-ray ordered, Biopsy

Diagnosis: Lung Adenocarcinoma; meaning a type of cancer that starts in your glands that line the inside of one of your organs – Multiple tumours noted

25/12/2016 – Merry F’in Christmas – All family were at Diane and John’s house, all glum and down, and all feeling un-Christmas like. This was the worst Christmas ever and the thought of the diagnosis, Diane and John having to spend Christmas day in hospital and all of us at their home without them just put a dampener on everything. What a miserable bunch we were. The plan would be to carry on as normal for the kid’s sake and live stream a video to them in hospital so that they could still be part of the day. But through determination and pestering, Diane managed to convince the doctors to release her temporarily so that she and us could capture some sort of Christmas together. John drove in and she was not in site. We all nearly choked when she sat up and showed herself. Needless to say there was a lot of yelling, hollers and hugging going on.

27/12/2016 – Auckland City – Tests and Prods

10/01/2017

Analysis: CT PET scan

Diagnosis: Stage 4 Lung Carcinoma…..Metastasised-(spreadable seeds)

Masses consisted of:

1 @74mm or 7.4cm - 1 @ 50mm - 1 @ 13mm – 1 @ 34mm

Comment: Main or largest tumor in upper lung wrapped around aortic valve – (heart palpitations??) Other Masses or tumors evident

11/01/2017

Treatment: Begins 10 sessions of radiotherapy to the left Chest

06/03/2017

Analysis: Biopsy undertaken - Glitch in biopsy where needle perforated an artery. Result: Diane was nearly lost on the table through drowning in her own blood.

Notes: She thought it was over, and nearly gave up, but she had a vision of her family and pulled back, sat up and told the medical staff to “Come on Guys.” Her memory of the day was that it went from being a standard biopsy to a large group of people in absolute chaos. They eventually got it under control and she was allowed to return home for a couple of days but then was rushed again to Whangarei hospital with a punchered lung as a complication of the biopsy.

21/03/2017 – 22/09/2017

Treatment: Chemotherapy every 3 weeks – Total of 10 sessions @ around $8,000.00 per session not including Oncologist consultations – Completed

September - October 2017

Treatment Concluded: Chemotherapy completed – Everything seems ok. No more of this specific type of Chemotherapy allowed on these existing masses. Existing masses have reduced in size however Steroid injections playing havoc with body.

Future Options: Specialists must meet to consider whether “Keytruda,” treatment is an option going forward. There are now new masses forming…

DIANE NOW HAS NO TREATMENT COVER – NO HOLDS BARRED FOR ALL FREE RADICALS

October – November 2017

Analysis: Biopsy of new mass around kidney area is undertaken

Result: Mass now has a canal to travel through of which it proceeds to do so. It is now migrating up through the entry point of the biopsy needle and erupting from her back.

Symptoms: Experiencing breathing problems, finding it hard to talk, eat and drink. Progressive worsening of her condition.

Analysis: Bronchoscopy undertaken - Lesion or mass found in bronchial tube and the airway is closing up.

Treatment: Plan is to insert a stent to try and keep airways open.

Notes: Admitted for procedure, however on further investigation it is ascertained that the location of the lesion is in an area that splits off to the lung so a stent is now out of the question and is sent home until she can be rescheduled for alternative procedure.

Notes: No word or news of rescheduled appointment. Diane has to chase it up and finally she gets an appointment around 3 weeks later.

Result: They opt to cauterise the lesion instead to try and control it and give some comfort to her. Result is an improvement in her breathing, talking and eating ability.

20/11/2017

Symptoms: Diane is in immense pain. Constant hammering headache, Sight is playing tricks on her. She has moments of complete blindness, double vision and tunnel vision in her right eye.

Analysis: Visit to the doctors sees her admitted to Whangarei Hospital and a CT Scan is taken of her head. Examination revealed evidence of a tumor behind her eyes in the sinus area affecting her nerves. This is what was causing the headache, including visual and balance issues.

Treatment: Transferred to Auckland – Radiation treatment commenced immediately – Pressure alleviated however full vision has not recovered at this stage.

December 2017

Due to the aggressiveness and intensity of attack on Diane’s body the decision makers have agreed to proceed with “Keytruda Treatment.”

Keytruda Treatment Cost Analysis: $8,3079.62 every 3 weeks for 6 months

$73,000.00 for treatment

$30,000.00 for Oncologist and Nursing costs

Total projected cost of Keytruda Treatment to pay: $102,000.00

NOTE: Keytruda is subsidised once patient has paid for the first $100,000.00

05/12/2017

Treatment: First Round of Keytruda delivered during this round of radiation treatment to protrusion on back.

08/12/2017-(Friday)

Sent home after radiation treatment and is supposed to return on Sunday 10th to start radiation of mass but not well enough to travel. Monday Diane is getting ready to return to hospital however finds it hard to breath and is ambulanced to Whangarei Hospital where she is admitted for observation. Breathing is brought under control and on Tuesday she is transferred to Auckland hospital to undertake the planned Radiation session. Stays 8 days in Auckland Hospital where treatment consisted of 5 rounds of radiation. Back home on the 19th December!! Yay!!

HOPEFULLY ALL GOES WELL WITH NO ISSUES AND SHE IS GETS TO STAY AT HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.

It has been 1 year and 3 days since Diane was officially recognised as or should I say diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. Her Journey is still unfolding…. We only hope that she, John and the Kids can have the strength and stamina to support her and each other throughout the rest of this journey.

We ask that that you share this page and help us to help and support them throughout this absolutely devastating & trialling ride that they have no escape from so that they can at least try and keep together.

Remember every donation will help, whether it be little or large – it all equals help and hope for the future.

Thank you – on behalf of Diane and her Family.