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Tawhai Reti life saving treatment- Multiple Myeloma.

  • The most amazing news!

      13 July 2026
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    I just wanted to reach out to you all and share a very special update!

    I have just recieved this email from Tawhais doctor Judith, and extracted a small snippet to share. "Well and in remission from his myeloma 30 days after being the first myeloma patient in Australia to get funded CAR-T. He’s holding up the canister that his CAR-T cells were shipped from the US in"IN REMISSION!!!!!I could shout from the rooftops!!!!!

    30 days after recieving CAR-T, remission is not what I thought could happen so quickly.Last months donations helped to fly my daughters and I home from Melbourne, we arrived home last Friday. And this coming months donations will be going towards Tawhai returning home! He is doing fantastically well, we are so blessed! Many thanks

    Lani and Tawhai Reti

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  • Car-T in Melbourne

      23 June 2026

    We are currently in Melbourne! Tawhai is Day 14 post Car T Cell therapy called CARVYKTI and is doing well! Thank you all for following along with us, sharing and all of the generous donations! Tawhai may need to stay longer in Australia to have corrective surgery on his arm. We will be sad to leave, especially some of our children who were able to join us here. They have been enjoying the change of scenery and helping take fantastic care of their Dad! We also featured in a 3 part episode on The Hui NZ 2 weeks ago which we have had amazing response from! We are very passionate in continuing to advocate for Blood Cancer patients in NZ, and will continue to share our story in order to spread awareness!

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  • Waiting for Car-T!

      7 May 2026
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    Tawhai has been discharged from hospital after a virus, pneumonia and a fungal infection in the lungs. Very excited to announce that he has harvested his cells for Car-T and is part of some of the first patients in Australia to recieve it government funded. We are over the moon that we have been able to be given this opportunity.

    We are still on a long journey, with lots of treatment, recovery and time to still be spent in Australia.

    We want to thank you all for supporting us as we continue on this ride!

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  • Update from Lani Reti

      12 March 2026

    Tawhai and I, with our tamariki, lived in Australia from 2023-2024. When Tawhai relapsed, we returned to NZ for family support, unaware of how detrimental that choice would be for his care. Had we known how far behind NZ is in funding and accessibility, we would have stayed.

    Getting back to Australia was life-or-death. In NZ, Tawhai was placed on palliative care; I could not accept that he was being left to die. I bypassed referrals, contacted the Sydney team directly, and we were on a plane within three days—only after urgent transfusions to make him stable enough to fly. Our doctor was clear: "You need to be here this week; by next week it could be too late."

    Since arriving in Sydney, the doctors and their haematology team have undoubtedly saved my husband’s life. The "next level" care from the nursing staff has been paramount. It is heartbreaking that 21,000 blood cancer patients in NZ cannot access this.

    We feel deep empathy for NZ doctors, who are forced to deliver substandard care due to lack of funding. Seeing this from a new perspective, we truly appreciate what they did despite the restrictions.

    Our hardest obstacle is the separation from our children. Missing assemblies, bedtimes, and milestones while living through a phone is agonizing. Our children are suffering. We need urgent action: families should not have to split apart just to survive.

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