My sister Rochelle's breast cancer journey

Hi my name is Lizzy and I am fundraising for my younger sister Rochelle while she tries her best to navigate her way through her new cancer journey. Rochelle is currently now off work and undergoing chemotherapy. Working full time, she did have access to sick leave and annual leave from work which she has now completely exhausted after a couple of weeks.

Rochelle's journey so far:

In May this year Rochelle found a large lump (4cm) in her right breast. To her own shock she got it checked straight away by her local GP. Our mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her mid 50s, so Rochelle new to get on top of it and get it checked by a doctor just to be on the safe side. At this point she thought it was going to be nothing but didn't want to take any chances. Her local GP said the lump felt suspicious and sent her for scans immediately and referred her to see a specialist breast surgeon as soon as possible. Rochelle has undergone countless uncomfortable tests and scans such as breast biopsy, axillary lymph node biopsy, ultrasounds, mammogram, CT scan, PET scan, MRI scan, breast clip insertion, port insertion, fertility treatment for egg freezing and egg retrieval surgery.

On June 7th Rochelle attended her first appointment to see a breast surgeon to discuss the lump. It was at this appointment that she received the diagnosis that would change her life forever. Rochelle was diagnosed with stage 3 - locally advanced hormone receptor positive and HER2 positive breast carcinoma. The diagnosis came as a complete shock to us all including me. Since her diagnosis Rochelle had to undergo fertility preservation and take actions to retrieve and freeze her eggs before starting chemotherapy because chemotherapy can ruin her egg quality.

After having her egg retrieval surgery Rochelle commenced chemotherapy the next day. 48hours after her egg retrieval surgery, Rochelle had to be admitted to hospital for three days because she endured rare complications from her egg retrieval surgery after her first chemotherapy cycle. Rochelle was diagnosed with a rare condition that effects less than 1% of people and causes the ovaries to be hyper stimulated from the surgery and shut own and produce extra fluid retention within the body. Rochelle also suffered fevers and infections so lucky she went to hospital as she was now severely immunocompromised from chemotherapy. Rochelle has since recovered from hospital and completed her cycle 2 of chemotherapy.

Rochelle's journey thus far has not been easy and has been physically and mentally draining on her taking a huge toll. Rochelle is completing five months of chemotherapy and then having a surgery and then radiation therapy. As part of her treatment, she is unable to work because she is severely fatigued and immunocompromised. Rochelle works as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist in a hospital so going to work could be very risky especially during the first 8 weeks of chemotherapy. Part of Rochelle's chemotherapy regime requires an injection called Perjeta that's a non-PBS medication and costs around $6,000. I'm trying to raise some money to go towards this medication that she needs as part of her chemotherapy treatment regime.

My sister is my rock and my best friend and would do anything to try and help her out the best I can hence this go fund me page in her honour. I know times are very tough and money is tight these days but please if you could spare any money big or small, it would be greatly appreciated to take the stress and burden off Rochelle as she doesn't know when she will be able to return to work and needs those expensive Perjeta injections.

Here is some more information about stage 3 - locally advanced hormone receptor positive and HER2 positive breast carcinomas:

Stage 3 breast cancer has one or more of the following features:

May be large (typically bigger than 4 cm)

May have spread to several lymph nodes in the underarm area (axillary nodes), or other areas near the breast

(Rochelle has lymph node involvement)

May have spread to other tissues around the breast such as skin, muscle or ribs.

Treatment for locally advanced breast cancer will usually involve a combination of treatments, such as:

Chemotherapy – Locally advanced breast cancer is often treated with chemotherapy before surgery. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is to make the breast cancer smaller, and to destroy any cancer cells in the body that cannot be detected by routine tests.

Breast surgery – breast surgery may be recommended for some but not all patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Most women who have surgery will have the entire breast removed (mastectomy). If you have responded well to chemotherapy and the cancer has become smaller, you may be offered breast-conserving surgery. Surgery may be followed by other treatment such as radiotherapy, targeted therapy and hormone therapy depending on the cancer’s characteristics.

Radiotherapy – radiotherapy may be used before or after surgery for locally advanced breast cancer to destroy breast cancer cells in the breast, armpit, neck or nearby areas.

Targeted therapies – targeted therapies are drugs used to treat specific types of breast cancer. They are only suitable for some patients. For example, HER2-targeted therapies are used to treat HER2 positive breast cancers. Targeted therapies may be used with other treatments for locally advanced breast cancer.

Hormonal therapies – hormonal therapies are drugs used to treat breast cancers that are hormone receptor positive. These therapies may be used alone or in combination with other treatments for locally advanced breast cancer.

We thank you so much for taking the time to read about Rochelle's journey and the long road ahead that she will encounter. To anyone that has donated we can't thank you enough for your generosity and kindness. This money will help Rochelle while she's off work undergoing treatment.

Many thanks,

Lizzy.