Chrissy’s story

“I was diagnosed at the age of 33. I still remember the conversation with the specialist, my husband Josh and I sat there in disbelief, so blissfully unaware of the seriousness of what lay ahead of us or the impact it would have on the rest of our lives. Or the ripple effect on our wider friend and family group. Our daughter had just just turned 1, our son was 3 and we’d been told I had stage 3 colorectal cancer. My symptoms had been disregarded as pregnancy related over the past few years before and I too had mistaken the fatigue I was feeling for general mum life tiredness.

Treatment began right away with a week of pre surgical radiation followed by surgery to remove the tumour and form a temporary ileostomy. This ileostomy was a challenge but it gave my bowel an opportunity to heal and after around 8 months it was reversed and I relearned to use my own pipes again. In the mean time it was discovered that I was now stage 4, with metastatic spread to my lung. This nodule was removed via a lung resection procedure. I dove into chemotherapy which was a real challenge and left me with long term neuropathy in my feet. After completing 5/8 rounds another nodule was discovered in my liver. This was resected in another surgery followed by ileostomy reversal surgery. Not long after this I received my first NED scan result. This was a relief but was unfortunately short lived. Since this time my cancer has been active and advancing resulting in metastasis throughout my lungs and a Terminal diagnosis. I completed 6 months of chemotherapy this year and found my tolerance to treatment shifted up and down but ultimately the chemo fatigue was worsening and the impact on my daily life and my role as a mother and wife was showing.

At this stage we have run out of conventional options so Josh and I have made the decision to instead pursue Alternative Therapy Treatments. We have been lucky enough to take our kids on a OE in Aug-Sept this year to see places we never imagined we’d see and make truely amazing memories together. This journey has been a challenging time for our family but with it we have been more blessed and encouraged than we could have ever hoped for. We have a tribe of loved ones behind us who have gone over and above to support us and our kids and to give us hope when we had nothing left in the tank. Cancer has taken us to a place of greater appreciation for the small things in life and allowed us to be more present in the moments with our loved ones. We are thankful for this reminder that life is precious and will continue to have faith to thrive in the journey ahead.”