Karen's chemo support and cancer journey

$10,000 of $25,000 goal

Given by 108 generous donors in around 3 months

To provide Karen with funds to continue with lifesaving cancer therapy, including paying for her next two rounds of chemo.

Auckland

Karen was suddenly and unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer 3 months ago and immediately began chemo and target therapy as part of her palliative care plan. She is responding well to chemo (4 rounds so far) but needs at least another two, which are unfortunately not covered by medical insurance.

To give herself the best possible results from her treatments Karen has been forced to drastically reduce her working hours, and has taken a huge hit financially. Karen is 38 years old, has the greatest attitude towards what she is facing, and desperately wants to do all it takes to get the most out of her treatments and life. Any financial gift you are able to give would help towards meeting some of her costs as well as easing the emotional/mental toll.

If you are not in a position to offer a financial gift we completely understand, but would love it if you could share this link with as many people as possible ... facebook friends, Instagram followers, community groups, work places, sports teams, churches etc that you may be involved in. The more donors we have, the faster funds will be raised and the sooner Karen can go ahead with potentially life saving medical procedures.

If you are in a position to gift in other ways, such as providing home cooked meals, petrol vouchers, picking up a few groceries, or you would prefer to offer Karen funds directly please get in contact asap. Every offer of help is greatly appreciated.

Any additional funds raised above the set target will be gifted to Karen to simply put towards whatever will give her the most enjoyment of life (practical things like winer clothing and bedding as chemo makes her feel the cold) but also including ticking off things on her bucket-list. Karen has created a facebook page for anyone interested in following her journey, here you will learn more about her diagnosis, up to date treatment details, and also a whole lot more about how amazing, real, strong and personal her attitude is. Check it out people!

Nicola Laird's involvement (page creator)

Karen is my bff, my travel buddy in days past, a previous work colleague, former flatmate, my bridesmaid, and Aunty of Lexi pup.

Use of funds

To pay for Karen's ongoing cancer treatment costs including chemo and target therapy drugs called TAXOTERE, HERCEPTIN and PERTUZUMAB , as well as help cover the additional costs associated with this huge change in her life.

Latest update

Latest news 8 August 2021

Hi beautiful people, I just wanted to update you on the fundraising you've generously done to help Karen pay for her chemo sessions. Firstly, the givealittle page closed at the end of July with a grand total of exactly $10000.00 wahoo! On top of that, your generosity continued with $3000.00 being gifted directly into a bank account set up for her. On top of this again, a couple of people have been giving $20 a week, someone gifts $5 from every client purchase, and someone else has popped $100 in each month for the past 3 months. A freezer was purchased for Karen to allow for meals to be made in advance or gifted to her, and of course the epic dance party night which brought in $300 plus a whole lot of fun memories! A wonderful friend wrote a beautiful article about Karen's journey which was published in her local paper and was a timely reminder to all women to keep their health a priority. What a privilege to be part of this group of thoughtful, generous and loyal people. Thank you all so much for all the support you've provided and continue to for Karen. Chemo was as successful as it could be and paying to have those extra sessions and to start it immediately has definitely been a lifesaver. Since Chemo finished Karen has been having targeted therapy every 3 weeks and this will continue indefinitely while it is working. This coming week is a big one for Karen as it's her 39th birthday on Thursday, 12th August, an event she wasn't sure she would be celebrating earlier in the year. Thank you all again so very much for every single way you have reached out to support Karen none of it goes unnoticed or unappreciated.

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