Alyce's Breast Cancer Treatment

Do you recognise me?

Cause I sure don’t recognise myself!

I’ve lost both boobs, all my hair, 20lb, and six months of my normal life.

This year was supposed to be about launching my dog boarding and export business, running affordable castration clinics, and continuing to rescue high-needs dogs off the streets.

But... The universe had other plans.

In November 2024 I was diagnosed with locally advanced Stage 3 Breast Cancer.

I hadn’t previously made this public because I didn’t want the weight of an inbox full of people asking how I am. Of course people care, and want to help, but fielding opinions, updates, and questions is pretty exhausting. I’m not one for a pity party, nor dramatic social media updates. And honestly, I’m doing well, I really am. But now I do need some help.

I have a small group of close friends and family supporting me, and I’m managing the treatments and the surgery far better than we all anticipated.

Treatment so far has comprised 3 rounds of pre-op chemotherapy to shrink the (frankly, enormous) tumor, then in February I had a double mastectomy with removal of level 1 & 2 lymph nodes on the right hand side, followed by 5 more rounds of chemotherapy to continue killing off any random cancer cells that are almost certainly floating around my body.

All of these treatments were extremely generously covered by my parents. I’ve been covering the countless scans, biopsies, blood tests, private transport to the capital for treatment, medications for side effects, wigs (which are honestly quite cute!), new clothes (still figuring those out) and improved diet.

About this fundraiser.

The part no one mentioned at the start? The cost of radiation therapy!! Radiation is the next step and is not negotiable. It’s applied to the breast area and the remaining lymph nodes to kill off any cancer cells that could still be present locally.

If I remain in Latin America for radiation, the anticipated cost is a stunning AU$15,000 / US$9,500; more than the cost of all the prior treatments combined. I’m hoping to be able to return to Australia where treatment is free, but travel, accommodation and other out of pocket expenses will total an estimated AU$8,000 / US$5,100. I’m currently in contact with cancer centres in Australia to see how my case could be transferred internationally, and that is my preferred course of action.

So - reluctantly - I’m asking for help with this, the most expensive part.

Once radiation is finished, I’ll embark on a five year course of hormone blockers. These are required to prevent estrogen stimulating new tumor cell growth (my particular brand of cancer is propelled by hormones). This is often a gruelling treatment, and many women require multiple complementary therapies and supplements to manage debilitating side effects. Any additional money will be set aside to help manage this phase, and of course the ever present possibility that the cancer will return or metastasize, and I need to do the whole thing all over again.

Please note that this fundraiser is in AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS. Please multiply your desired US$ donation by 1.6 to when typing the amount you’d like to give. The conversion makes a HUGE difference!

US$20…. AU$31

US$25…. AU$39

US$50…. AU$78

Etc etc

Thank you for your support. Sorry I was not transparent about the situation earlier, but it's not something I wanted to waive around in public.