Support Jennifer Rowlands and her family on their difficult Melanoma Journey
Supporting Jennifer Rowlands' and her family - Jen's Melanoma Journey
Tauranga, Bay Of Plenty
Over the past week, whilst everyone has been enjoying their Summer break, Jen has had the worst week of her life. She has had the most tragic and heartbreaking news: her dreaded cancer has returned after seven years. Advanced-stage melanoma has been discovered in her lungs and brain.
This is woefully unfair as Jen has worked tirelessly to protect her health and minimise chance of recurrence - running, yoga, nutrition.
We all know Jen as a superwoman and supermum: juggling work, school commitments, sports practices, dietary needs, bookwork, and medical appointments. She does it all with a laugh, usually at herself. Jen is always helping others and putting them before herself. But now she needs our help. Let's wrap around the Rowlands Family. Your donation will help the family to:
- Navigate their way through this tremendously difficult time without the financial stress
- Allow Brent to focus his energy on supporting Jen, Flynn and Reid
- Give breathing space
With Brent unable to continue work as a self-employed builder, donations will be used to cover living expenses in the short term. As it is still early days, we do not yet know the prognosis or treatment options, but we know the journey will be tough. This page will be regularly updated.
Any contribution is greatly appreciated - did you know that you can can even set up a recurring payment if that is easier. Please share this page with your network and anyone wanting to help our friend.
Libby Gosling's involvement (page creator)
I have set this page up on behalf of a group of close friends of Brent and Jen that wish to support them to focus on Jen's care and spending time together as a family. If you wish to contact me directly please email me to libbygosling@hotmail.com
Use of funds
Living expenses to allow Brent to focus on his family.
Funds will also contribute to treatment which is still being confirmed. For transparency these details will be published.
Latest update
The power of community: Jen's remission achieved with your help 31 July 2023
Dear Supporters,
We have some incredible news to share with all of you! Thanks to your support and generous donations, Jen's cancer is now in remission. Your contributions have saved her life by funding the treatment that made all the difference.
When several melanoma metastases were discovered in Jen's brain and lungs the prognosis was bleak, with typical life expectancy ranging from 1 to 3 months.
Thanks to your incredible support and her SUPERSTAR oncologist Richard North (shout-out to him!), Jen had immediate access to non-funded braf inhibitors. These worked wonders. Within just two weeks, all her tumours shrank by half, allowing her brain to be more favourable for the life-saving combined immunotherapy, again including non-funded treatments. Today, we are overjoyed to share that Jen's private treatment has been incredibly successful, and no tumours are currently detected on her brain or lungs in her CT scans.
We cannot express enough gratitude. Your donations, meals, thoughts, prayers, and all the support you provided played a crucial role in Jen's recovery. You have been with her and her family every step of the way, and they believe they couldn't have achieved this without you.
"There is no power greater for change than a community discovering what it cares about." (Margaret J Weatley)
We will be closing our Givealittle page.
Please know you’ve made a difference, and I hope this motivates you to support causes on here.
On behalf of,
Jen, Brent, and family
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Who's involved?
