Let’s come together for Iona & family

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Our brother Alastair and his wife Jerina’s darling little girl Iona has recently been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

The past weeks have been a scary rollercoaster - from when she suddenly stopped eating and drinking, to the devastating discovery that she has tumours all over her bones, and an extremely rare form of blood cancer as the cause.

A complication is a tumour pressing on her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. We are hopeful that she may regain some control, but there are no guarantees.

Iona is currently undergoing intensive chemotherapy at Starship Hospital. She is in a small negative pressure room after testing positive for Covid and may need to remain there for up to six months, as it’s too risky for her to leave while her immune system is removed by the chemo.

Through all these challenges, Iona is showing incredible strength and spirit — still finding the energy to play, and managing to eat small amounts, hot cross buns are one of her favourites!

We have set up this page to support this beautiful family through what will be a long and challenging journey.

The biggest impact for Al and Jerina is loss of income. Alastair is taking extended time off work, and Jerina unable to work at this time. There is also the possibility of long-term changes to how they work, depending on how well Iona recovers.

We deeply appreciate any gift as an outreach of love and support from friends and family. We would be grateful if you could share this page too.

Sarah McKenzie's involvement (page creator)

We are Alastair’s sisters, Jerina’s sisters-in-law, and Iona’s Aunties.

Thanks,

Sarah and Anita

Use of funds

Living expenses - mortgage, bills, food, transport to/from hospital etc. Enabling Al and Jerina to spend time with Iona.

Latest update

Update #2: PART 1 8 June 2026

The results from the MRI at the end of cycle one showed a 50% reduction in tumours, and a biopsy showed no visible presents of cancerous bone marrow. The ideal scenario they were hoping for is a 100% reduction in tumours, as they are the tip of the iceberg, however at least there was a good reduction anyway. In response, the doctors increased the intensity of the chemotherapy drugs for cycle 2.

Cycle 2 is now nearing the end of the recovery stage. They knew to expect nausea, diarrhoea, lack of appetite and plenty pain management, all which materialised, however Iona handled treatment well this cycle. The doctors would joke “have they just given her juice instead” some days. There were few speed bumps along the road, lots of aspects to her care that are constant work namely related to her hickman line, catheter, nasal tube for feeding, and lots of nappy changing.

Her blood counts are coming back up, and she is due to have a scan in approximately a week to measure progress at the end of cycle 2. Once her blood counts are back to safe levels, they can leave the ward for a couple of days. The didn’t go home at the end of cycle 1 as the admin/faff would exhaust too much energy, so they went for walks around the park instead. Jerina still has not been home since March 30th!

A big change since last update - Iona is getting a little bit of a wiggle going on in her legs. When laying on her back, she can pull them up and move them inwards.

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