Liz's cancer journey

My aunt Liz has been diagnosed with untreatable stage 4 brain and lung cancer and has been given a few months to live. At this stage, Liz needs 24/7 supervision and help doing basic everyday things as she is showing similar symptoms to someone with dementia, often becoming confused and exhausted. On top of this she has become extremely deaf and has distorted vision - this has had a massive impact on her independence.

My brother is her full time carer, but he is really struggling to keep on top of everything on his own. We have the option to privately fund in home help so that he gets a bit of a break, but due to Liz no longer working, income is extremely limited, and WINZ is only able to help so much towards pre existing as well as new costs that have arisen due to the disease.

I've been coming to help as much as I can, however I can only spend 2 weeks of the month here as I have 3 young children (including a newborn), and live on great barrier island, so while it is cost effective compared to what we would pay for an extra 24/7 caregiver, it is not financially viable for us as it's well beyond our means in travel costs.

Lizs diagnosis is terminal. She is currently trying an experimental drug that has shown promising results in people with this type of cancer. The drug will not cure the cancer or remove it in any way, only stop its progression - slowing the cancer is our only course of action as the cancer is inoperable and will not respond to radiation or chemo.

This could be a potentially very lengthy process and it has already proven stressful and extremely difficult for all involved. It's important that we make Liz as comfortable as possible and help her keep as much independence throughout this process as we can. The best way to do this is to make sure she is surrounded by loved ones and people she recognizes to minimize stress, as well as keeping her at home for as long as we can.

We are often finding ourselves hit with large unexpected costs like mobility aids, alternative/complementary therapies, and

we need to be able to cover travel costs for me to travel back and forth from home monthly to help manage the load with my brother. We also need to cover extra rent at the home, as it is difficult to have strangers renting alongside us due to the nature of the illness and the effects it has on her mental capacity.

Liz has dedicated the last 20 years to helping people as a therapeutic counselor with complimentary alternative health practices. She has touched the lives of many and helped them move on from their traumas and improved their quality of life. Now it's our chance to give a little back and help the woman who's helped so many others.