Katie's Chemo Fund

My name is Katie Rose Clausen and I am twenty one years old. I was studying Fashion Design and Business at AUT University and was on my way to graduating in 2016, before a roadblock was thrown in my way. On Christmas Eve of 2015, I was diagnosed with Stage 3A Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Before I was diagnosed with Lymphoma, I was experiencing intensive tummy pains and I never felt quite right. I had a large egg shape growth that had formed in my cheek and was unable to work or go to class, constantly feeling sick and extremely tired. After seeing several different doctors, I was admitted into Waikato hospital to undergo a surgical biopsy, a bone marrow biopsy, a lumbar puncture and multiple different scans. It was on Christmas Eve that my doctor confirmed our worst fears, and informed me that I had cancer. Not only was the lump in my face confirmed as cancer, but I found out that I had growths in my neck, chest, groin and a 11x17 growth in my tummy! Which explained all the cramps.

So, what is Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma?

Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma is a cancer that starts in cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body's immune system. Lymphocytes are in the lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues (such as the spleen and bone marrow). It was a shock to be diagnosed with Lymphoma which I had never heard of before, let alone to hear the doctor say it could potentially take my life. I thought I was being Punk’D for the longest time and was waiting for someone to shout, “it’s a joke!”.

I have undergone five chemo treatments and have just one treatment left to go. And thankfully, chemo has being doing it’s job! My doctor recently confirmed that the large 11x17 growth in my tummy has shrunk to just 5x2cms and all other growths had disappeared. Whilst there is still a small growth left, my doctor also confirmed there are no active cancer cells left in my body! Hooray!

But as much of a blessing as this news is, unfortunately I am not completely out of the woods. The funny thing with “Follicular” Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, it likes to come back. But my doctor has a plan to combat this, with maintenance chemo, every three months for the next two years. It is the hope that with this maintenance chemo, I will be able to prolong the length of my life and keep the cancer at bay till I'm old and wrinkly. This is totally doable, with the use of Rituximab. The upside to this, is the chemo drug they intend to use has no nasty side effects, but the downside is, that “Rituximab” is not government funded and has to be administered in a private hospital because of this. This means that me and family will be have to pay for the Rituximab, and the private hospital fees, which over two years will amount to $45,000.

I started this Give a Little Page because any little bit would help me and my family through this trying financial time and any little amount of money donated would be more than a blessing and half. I, and will continue to be fundraising for as long as we can!