Help Shane and his family thrive during cancer treatment

Hi, my name is Shauna, and my brother-in-law, Shane, is battling cancer.

It was discovered in early 2024 after biting his tongue and finding that the lump we had assumed was from the accidental chomping, was not only not healing on its own, but was seemingly growing larger. He had tongue cancer, and, as we quickly found out, tumours in his neck too.

Shane had surgery to remove the tumours, a tongue reconstruction using a section of his thigh, endured a tracheostomy, gastrostomy tube, chemotherapy and radiation. This went on for months. His two children, still too young to fully grasp why their dad was so sick, were ecstatic when Shane finally came home, still a little tired and sore, still with a long healing journey ahead, but he was home.

That was until, a very short few months later, the test results came back. The tumours in his neck had returned, much larger than before. Currently, due to their size and vascularity, operating isn't advisable, but a plan was put in place for more chemo, as well as immunotherapy treatment, and a personal decision not just to get by and manage this hard time, but to live. Shane decided to delay chemotherapy by a week so he could have a normal Christmas with his family before starting treatment on the 27th of December. Only three days later, on the 30th of December, Shane found himself back in the hospital for an unplanned two-week stay, emergency surgery scheduled for the morning of New Year's Day to have a new tracheostomy and gastrostomy tube installed, as the tumours had grown large enough that they posed a very real risk of compromising his airways.

The funds raised by this campaign will be used for many things- the obvious ones, such as enabling Lani, his wife of eight years, to take time off work to care for him and the kids, basic living expenses, medications and so on, but also the less obvious, but just as vital ones; spending time with his wife and kids. Taking them on adventures. Having experiences with them that they can cherish forever. Living. Not just surviving.