Rochelle's fight against Cholangiocarcinoma

Cholangiocarcinoma also known as CCA is cancer of the bile duct. It is the 2nd most primary cancer of the liver and it is deemed rare and aggressive and over 80% of people who are diagnosed are already stage 4 terminal. This cancer is labelled the silent killer due to its symptoms presenting at such a late stage.

My wife Rochelle was diagnosed with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma on the 1st of December 2021. We spent 17 nights in Waikato hospital as she underwent 4 surgeries to try and get her liver to function as the mass had wrapped around her bile duct which meant the passage to drain the liver was completely blocked. Once the surgeons were able to successfully insert 2 metal stents through her liver she was then discharged into palliative chemotherapy with a life expectancy of less than 12 months There is no cure and she is deemed inoperable so we rely on the chemotherapy to buy her more time. She has just completed cycle 3 of chemotherapy and so far things seem to be going well with a reduction in spread and mass size.