Donate to help Vivien beat Hodgkin Lymphoma

Hi. My name is Craig Lawrence and I'm reaching out with a heavy heart about my good friend, Jimmy Nuake’s daughter, Vivien Nuake. Vivien is 17 years old and needs help to undergo high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation in the Philippines. The family is from Solomon Islands. I have been friends with the family since I worked there in 2013.

Vivien was first diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system, which is part of the body's immune system. It is also one of the most curable forms of cancer.

Vivien was a bubbly, happy-go-lucky child growing up and was doing really well in school. Things, however, took a turn in 2020 when she had a lump removed from her thigh that turned out to be cancerous. She was then diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma when the test results came back.

She underwent 12 cycles of chemotherapy over a period of 6 months in 2020.

Unfortunately, in early 2022, the cancer had relapsed. It wasn’t until a hematologist from Australia visited Honiara in 2023 that high-dose chemotherapy along with stem cell/bone marrow transplant was recommended for such a relapsed case.

This treatment, however, is not available in the Solomon Islands, so the family had to look overseas. Australia is difficult and expensive, so they looked to the Philippines and Makati Medical Center in Manila was recommended and Vivien will undergo treatment there.

The stem cell transplant procedure costs around US$20,000-US$30,000, depending on how the treatment progresses. Although the family was able to raise some funds back home, it is only enough to cover airfares and living expenses, but it will not be enough to cover for the stem cell transplant treatment itself. Therefore, the target is to raise at least AU$47,000 (approx. $US30,000) for the procedure.

Vivien -- despite experiencing Stage IIB symptoms that include the Involvement of two lymph node sites around her neck area as well as frequent fever, excessive sweating, and weight loss -- is still smiling and hopeful that she will overcome this.

No parent would ever want to see their child endure such an ordeal.

Your support means that Vivien will get another shot at removing the cancer from her body so she can go back to school and live her life to the fullest.

If you can donate something, no matter how small, it will go a long way to give Vivien a second chance to beat her cancer. All the proceeds will go directly to paying for stem cell transplanting procedure.

With heartfelt gratitude,

On behalf of Vivien Nuake’s family