Yunona's story: from Glioblastoma, stage 4 to twin girls

In 2022 Yunona has been diagnosed with Glioblastoma, grade 4 brain cancer and had undergone emergency brain surgery. After radiation treatment and during her chemo treatment, Yunona found out that she was expecting for the third time. It came out as a surprise with more surprise of having twins. All the treatment was immediately stopped. After a challenging pregnancy, the gorgeous twin girls Elizaveta and Iliana were born at 36 weeks in July 2023. However since then Yunona has been having frequent seizures which can be triggered by fatigue. One led to several days in hospital and another caused injuries to her face. Of course, Yunona has to take care of twin babies (along with two older daughters who are 8 and 3 years old) which can be extremely exhausting. But current family situation has become more challenging due to them having no family support in New Zealand and not being eligible for any public support or funding due to their status. They moved from UK for Daniel’s work and have been in New Zealand for a few years. They would love to stay in New Zealand, but they are struggling to get a visa for Yunona due to her diagnosis. While they are trying to figure out their immigration status, they have to pay the full amount for all her medical appointments, which sadly happen often and cost hundreds of dollars at a time. Anyone who knows this family can say that they are devoted parents who are doing their absolute best in this exhausting and stressful situation.