Help support the Aberle Family

Hi, I’m a friend of the Aberle’s and fundraising to help Darren fight cancer.

Darren Aberle is a father of 2 beautiful children and a husband to his wonderful wife Tenille has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. Darren commenced chemotherapy in early August; however, sadly, due to misdiagnosis, his treatment has been delayed by four months. Like all cancer patients, Darren is now confronting his mortality, which is made more emotional when he considers the impact his illness is having on Tennille and his two children.

Darren has exhausted all his leave entitlements and is no longer able to earn an income. Coupled with unforeseen medical expenses and the increased cost of living. The added financial pressures faced by both Darren and Tenille are immense. Please join me and help provide hope to the Abeles by donating to provide them with some form of financial relief which will enable Darren to focus on his fight for a cure. Read more for his full story.

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that doctors and people in the medical profession have had their work cut out for them for the past two years with no end in sight. Everyone is overworked and stressed, with the medical system feeling pressure.

Darren’s treatment could have been approached sooner or avoided if his GP had been more attentive and open to Darren’s concerns about his symptoms which were developing four months before his diagnosis. Please read further to hear the whole story:

Darren contracted COVID in Mid-March, as most of us have by now. By mid-April, he was still feeling unwell, and his GP told him it was normal for symptoms to linger.

In May after no improvement, his GP told him he was experiencing Long COVID. Darren requested a referral to the Long COVID Clinic and was declined, being told it was only a “virus” and that a referral was not possible until the symptoms had existed a minimum of 12 weeks after contracting COVID. Darren instead requested more blood tests, and the results showed a reduction in red and white blood cells and platelets. Additionally, there was a huge abnormality in his ferritin levels (indicating severe inflammation). His LDH levels also showed abnormalities (indicating tissue damage). The GP again sent him away with the diagnosis “viral illness.” likely because of slow recovery from COVID.

Now with increasing worry in early June Darren had gotten worse. He began experiencing severe fatigue and having night sweats. His appetite was decreasing, and his smell and taste were becoming distorted. Darren once again asked for a referral to the Long COVID clinic to run tests and review his results more closely. The Doctor told him it was not worth it as they had a long wait to get in and again dismissed it as a “viral infection” and told him “There was nothing else he could do".

Over this period Darren had lost a considerable amount of weight - 10kg in 4 weeks. Feeling unwell, frustrated, worried and uncertain Darren learned through his own research that the results potentially implied another cause and requested a referral to a Haematologist. The doctor refused initially, and after a verbal altercation, the Doctor wrote a referral.

Now here is the kicker. After a 6 week wait, he received a call to confirm the referral reason and was told they were not a “haematologist” as was referred to a completely wrong specialist. 6 weeks waiting, wasted.

With Darren’s health getting worse, having faith in his previous doctor, and now having lost their trust, he went to see a second GP who immediately booked without question. A week later he saw the Haematologist who stated there was nothing in his blood work indicating “viral markers” but instead concerning abnormalities that required further investigation.

A CT scan, full blood work and a bone marrow biopsy were ordered for the following week. Three days after the biopsy Darren and his wife Tenille met with their haematologist to be told devastating news that Darren had advanced Stage 4 blood cancer (Lymphoma) and required treatment immediately.

By this time, it was the beginning of August.

Darren has begun chemotherapy and is fearful of the effects to come but is being strong and positive for his family and taking the proper steps to fight this. He and his family are concerned with loss of wages and the strain this puts on his family. There have also been medical costs for hospital admissions, specialist appointments and medications.

Please donate to help the Aberle’s and help this Australian family. Any help will help support this family. They are staying positive and thankful they have each other with each day that passes.