Janine's Battle with Cancer

Janine is a 45 year old woman, who is divorced and is taking care of her two girls Sophie (18) and Emma (13). My name is Sophie and I am writing this on behalf of my mum.

In April of last year, Janine went to the doctors for the normal female checks where she also requested blood tests - this is the moment that our lives changed forever.

Her blood tests came back showing that she was severely anaemic and that something was seriously wrong. She was sent for a colonoscopy and before she was out of that procedure, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer. To say that it came as a shock would be an understatement. She experienced no symptoms - was just tired as any single working mum is.

May 2017, mum met a surgeon who informed her that the bowel cancer had spread to her ovaries and that she also had peritoneal disease (cancer in the lining of her liver). He told her that it was going to kill her. There was a two month period where she did not know whether she was going to have surgery that would save her life.

During this period of waiting, mum went for a Staging Laparoscopy where a lovely surgeon lifted her hopes and told her that it is fixable, "I held onto that comment so very tightly, shed a lot of tears and remained positive - I was not going to let this disease beat me - I have two beautiful girls to fight for!"

Early July 2017, she received wonderful news. They were going to operate. On the 12th of July she travelled to the Waikato for this major operation. Waikato was the only place that was able to give her Hi-pec chemo if they removed all the cancer. Hi-pec chemo is where they reticulate the drug throughout the effect areas for 90 minutes. 11 hours and 50 minutes later, they had got it all out! Mum’s abdomen was left with very little, part of her bowel was removed, she had a full hysterectomy, her gall bladder, the lining around her liver and her appendix were removed. She also had a collapsed lung as they removed part of her diaphragm.

After 17 long days in Waikato Hospital, she was home and very grateful that she was given another chance at life.

September 2017, chemotherapy began (this was to help ensure that the cancer did not come back). This lasted six months, she said that she was very lucky she did not experience all of the side effects of chemotherapy although six months after her final round of chemotherapy, Mum is still experiencing blurred vision, swollen, tingling and numb hands and feet.

July 2018, Janine was advised by her oncologist that she had no active disease left in her body. She was cancer free, or so we thought ...

Janine went for a routine colonoscopy where she was told by another surgeon that he didn't know why she was here, she still had cancer!

Whilst we are very grateful for the public healthcare system, some of the oncologists/surgeons have given so much misinformation that she sought a second opinion from a private oncologists.

It was confirmed that yes, mum does have recurring disease – it was small but in a very challenging area to operate. They didn’t want to peform surgery anyway “what is the point when more disease may come back?".

As you may or may not know, treatment through the private oncology teams are extremely expensive. My mum, sister and I are looking for financial support. We need mum to live. We will all be forever grateful for any financial support that you're able to offer to our family, sharing this page will be just as beneficial. From our family to yours, we would just like to thank you in advance for your support and generosity.