You can make sure no one faces cancer alone!
“I got my diagnosis on Friday and my flights were on the Monday. I'd given up my job, my flat, I’d even sold all my belongings…”
29-year-old Ella was preparing for an overseas trip of a lifetime when she noticed a suspicious lump on her breast that changed everything.
“It was a one-off what the hell moment. I was having a shower when I found a lump on my left breast. Purely because of the cost of health care overseas, I decided to get it checked…”
“The first thing the [doctors] said was ‘you have breast cancer’.”
It was terrible timing, forcing Ella to cancel her flights to Canada, and instead move in with her parents.
Then she was straight into fertility preservation treatment, before undergoing gruelling rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation.
“I lost my hair, eyebrows, and even eyelashes. I went from having long hair to being completely bald. I think for a woman, in particular, that's really difficult.”
“…I was on a chemo drug commonly referred to as the Red Devil, and it is essentially hell on earth. It was horrible. It was nausea to the point where no matter how many pills you are taking, like 20 or 30 pills a day, it's still making you feel really unwell. And the fatigue is unreal. It was really, really tough.”
After chemotherapy, Ella needed surgery to remove what was left of the cancer, and then a series of radiation treatments. While preparing for radiation, Ella realised the immense toll it would take to travel the long distance from her parent’s home to the hospital each day for 4 weeks.
Without reliable transport or support, thanks to you, Ella was given an incredible opportunity to shift her treatment down to Hamilton where she could use our Cancer Society's Lions Lodge.
“Staying at the Cancer Society Lodge changed a month of my life and made it a lot easier.”
“I spoke to so many people in the Lodge who wouldn't have had access to their treatment if they had not had the Lodge available to them. They live in remote towns and things like that. Everyone was really appreciative.
It changes the whole experience being able to stay there, so supporting Cancer Society is an amazing cause.”
“If you can, donate some money. Help other people out who are in a similar situation to me or even worse honestly. It’s not just a number in a bank account, [when you donate] it’s making a tangible difference to people’s lives.”
When you donate to the Cancer Society, you’re ensuring cancer patients like Ella have a safe, comfortable place to stay while receiving their treatment.
We can't do it alone. Please, make a donation today.
