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Tegan's (Chicken) chasing a grand slam victory against Stage 4 Bowel Cancer + Lynch Syndrome

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Given by 953 generous donors in around 12 months

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At just 26 Tegan (aka Chicken) is embarking on a fight for life against Stage 4 Bowel Cancer + Lynch Syndrome

Auckland

January 2021 Update:

Please check out Tegan's (Chicken's) page on Facebook to stay up to date with her progress: https://www.facebook.com/tegansfight

For the last update and news, please read the December 2020 update Christmas miracles (via a lot of hard work + fight) 16 December 2020

2020:

Our awesome friend Tegan Hollier (aka Chicken) is on a fight for life.

Instead of swinging for the fence in her first love Softball, this bubbly 26 year old is chasing a grand slam against cancer.

The battle began in February 2020 with surgery to remove the first tumour. Along with it surgeons took 1/4 of the large intestine, 26cm of small intestine and the surrounding lymph nodes. But the confirmation of Lynch Syndrome has brought the devastating news that this genetic condition makes Tegan's body resistant to the usual chemotherapy drugs.

So now in the eyes of the public health system the diagnosis is that Chicken is terminal. BUT there is hope for life with the drug Keytruda.

Keytruda is an immunotherapy treatment will work alongside her own immune system to fight the cancer(s). It is having dramatic effect around the world yet in New Zealand Keytruda is only funded by government Pharmac for treating advanced melanoma. So while we all fight to change this, the cost of life for Tegan with Keytruda is $112k per year.

Chicken is an amazing friend, teammate, daughter, sister, partner + step mother. She is loyal and will always be there when you need her. Whether it be to couch softball or fill in for your tournament team, to paint your car or just give you a cuddle when you are down. She has so much sass and positivity. She is too young to die.

We are asking for your kindness and generosity to help her battle. We want to offer her the gift of life. Your donations go towards funding Keytruda for Tegan + will support her through her journey.

Lynch Syndrome is estimated to occur in 1 in 300 people. For more information about KEYTRUDA visit www.fightcancer.co.nz

Jo Rule's involvement (page creator)

Long time friend and softball team mate

Use of funds

All funds will go directly to supporting Chicken during her treatment and recovery process.

Other page links

on Facebook

Christmas miracles (via a lot of hard work + fight) 16 December 2020

At the beginning of the year it was unclear if Tegan (Chicken) would make it to her 27th Birthday. But with a blink of the eye, well OK, more more like 3 big surgeries, 12 rounds of chemo, several covid-19 lockdowns, 100s of bloodtests, steroids' + drugs, countless scans + cameras, pricks, pokes and tests, here we are. Just 2 days out 27, 9 days out from Christmas + almost a year gone by.

And I am so delighted to share some news. Tegan scored a home run at her first game back at softball on Saturday! ;-) Just three weeks post chemo and still with her port in. She led her team to a 10-2 win.

But of course my delight is not limited to softball. We have even more amazing news to share for our Christmas miracle. Tegan has just been given clearance from oncology + a referral for her port to be taken out. Most amazingly she has been told to go and live her life!

Firstly we would like to say a massive thank you to the 1000s of supporters who have donated, brought raffles, helped Tegan out, contacted her, shared her story, been there for support. Without the emotional and financial generosity given to her by family, friends and total strangers we would not have made it this far!

What's next is Tegan is she will go "under surveillance", starting with an annual colonoscopy in January, followed by a CT scan in June. Blood tests carry on monthly and the Doctors will play it by ear. For now Keytruda is on hold. Its a miracle drug that once you start, you need to continue, so it has been left in the cancer weapons arsenal for the future. We all have our fingers crossed that it is not going to be needed, but hope that if it is, our government will have funding in place by then.

So for now it's time to reset, regroup, keep surviving and play more Softball! 😍

With the new year shining upon us full of hope and the dream that treatment is going to be a thing of the past, we will finish this page in January. Please make sure you like Chicken's page on Facebook to stay up to date with her progress: https://www.facebook.com/tegansfight

MERRY CHRISTMAS! THANK YOU + F**K CANCER.

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