Tammy Mackenzie & Family; cancer treatment
Donation protected
For the past 4 years, Tammy has been battling a very rare cancer called GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour). This cancer occurs mostly in the small intestines, or stomach.
Tammy has had 3 major surgeries to have these cancerous tumours removed. After the second surgery there was a period of time when they had thought she had won her cancer battle but a routine CT scan had unfortunately found that the cancer has metastasized to other parts of her body.
Testing on these tumours has also been done, because the GIST tumours have changes in mutation. Tammy’s GIST tumours have come up as a wild type, which mean they are rarest of the rare and tend to not respond to chemotherapy. There has been no chemotherapy or radiation out there that has been proven to effectively kill this tumour. She was put on a chemotherapy drug right after being first diagnosed, which there was hope that it would work but after further tests done they found it to only shrink the tumours slightly but were not effective enough to be rid of the cancer cells. And because of her wild type mutation, they had become resistant to the drug. Tammy had decided to go off of chemotherapy for a better quality of life, but is now struggling with the faster reoccurrences.
There has been lots of time spent researching what to do next, and looking into different treatment options. The last CT scan she had just had a few months prior have now shown the cancer has metastasized into her lungs,stomach, bowels and have reoccurred once again in her liver. 60% of her liver had to be resected in June after finding tumours there March 2020. Surgeons had told her that the tumours were able to be ablated but due to Covid all surgeries were postponed which resulted in tumour growth and her not being able to have the ablation treatment so a resection was her only chance of removing the tumours that had grown to substantial size covering over half of her liver.
There was hope for a new drug to be coming her way, but unfortunately we are still waiting on the results and are not so certain it will be covered by BC cancer as it is a trial drug. The more time passes the bigger these tumours grow, and can then become inoperable. The surgeons have told Tammy that because of the cancer being spread to her liver and other organs they cannot operate until the tumours have shrunken enough to be safe to do so.
It is scary because there is not much else we can do at this point. Tammy has now reached out to an immunotherapy clinic in Mexico with Dr. Bautista. The only problem is it is going to cost a lot to not only get down there but to afford the accommodations and treatments. Her son, Jack will be accompanying to the treatment center for companionship, so she does not have to endure this alone.
The treatment from Mexico is out of pocket, and Tammy must be down there for a minimum of 3 weeks. Depending on how the treatments go it could be upwards of 2 months.
Her husband, Ryan, a heavy duty mechanic has been working long and tireless hours to achieve this amount they need to send her away. But there is only so much that can be done.
As you may know as well, Tammy has recently purchased The Artisan Farmhouse in Fort St John where she is has made her dreams a reality. To take her away from this has been very difficult and challenging for her to leave especially with goals she wishes to achieve this year. Her daughter, Shea will continue to manage the store while she is away.
The family is very grateful for this opportunity for Tammy to go to Mexico as they feel this will be her best chance at fighting this persistent cancer. Tammy will have to leave mid February in order for the treatments to have the best chance at working, and due to the pace at which these tumours are growing. Which then does not leave much time to gather funds. Essential travel COVID tests must also be done prior to leaving but require Tammy and Jack to travel to Prince George. The go fund me page getting put up was never thought of at first, but rather has been brought up from people wanting to help and do anything they can. That is why they have decided to put this out there for anyone that would like to help. It is very much appreciated and would take off a lot of stress from the family.
Tammy has had 3 major surgeries to have these cancerous tumours removed. After the second surgery there was a period of time when they had thought she had won her cancer battle but a routine CT scan had unfortunately found that the cancer has metastasized to other parts of her body.
Testing on these tumours has also been done, because the GIST tumours have changes in mutation. Tammy’s GIST tumours have come up as a wild type, which mean they are rarest of the rare and tend to not respond to chemotherapy. There has been no chemotherapy or radiation out there that has been proven to effectively kill this tumour. She was put on a chemotherapy drug right after being first diagnosed, which there was hope that it would work but after further tests done they found it to only shrink the tumours slightly but were not effective enough to be rid of the cancer cells. And because of her wild type mutation, they had become resistant to the drug. Tammy had decided to go off of chemotherapy for a better quality of life, but is now struggling with the faster reoccurrences.
There has been lots of time spent researching what to do next, and looking into different treatment options. The last CT scan she had just had a few months prior have now shown the cancer has metastasized into her lungs,stomach, bowels and have reoccurred once again in her liver. 60% of her liver had to be resected in June after finding tumours there March 2020. Surgeons had told her that the tumours were able to be ablated but due to Covid all surgeries were postponed which resulted in tumour growth and her not being able to have the ablation treatment so a resection was her only chance of removing the tumours that had grown to substantial size covering over half of her liver.
There was hope for a new drug to be coming her way, but unfortunately we are still waiting on the results and are not so certain it will be covered by BC cancer as it is a trial drug. The more time passes the bigger these tumours grow, and can then become inoperable. The surgeons have told Tammy that because of the cancer being spread to her liver and other organs they cannot operate until the tumours have shrunken enough to be safe to do so.
It is scary because there is not much else we can do at this point. Tammy has now reached out to an immunotherapy clinic in Mexico with Dr. Bautista. The only problem is it is going to cost a lot to not only get down there but to afford the accommodations and treatments. Her son, Jack will be accompanying to the treatment center for companionship, so she does not have to endure this alone.
The treatment from Mexico is out of pocket, and Tammy must be down there for a minimum of 3 weeks. Depending on how the treatments go it could be upwards of 2 months.
Her husband, Ryan, a heavy duty mechanic has been working long and tireless hours to achieve this amount they need to send her away. But there is only so much that can be done.
As you may know as well, Tammy has recently purchased The Artisan Farmhouse in Fort St John where she is has made her dreams a reality. To take her away from this has been very difficult and challenging for her to leave especially with goals she wishes to achieve this year. Her daughter, Shea will continue to manage the store while she is away.
The family is very grateful for this opportunity for Tammy to go to Mexico as they feel this will be her best chance at fighting this persistent cancer. Tammy will have to leave mid February in order for the treatments to have the best chance at working, and due to the pace at which these tumours are growing. Which then does not leave much time to gather funds. Essential travel COVID tests must also be done prior to leaving but require Tammy and Jack to travel to Prince George. The go fund me page getting put up was never thought of at first, but rather has been brought up from people wanting to help and do anything they can. That is why they have decided to put this out there for anyone that would like to help. It is very much appreciated and would take off a lot of stress from the family.
Fundraising team (5)
Byron Stewart
Organizer
Fort St. John, BC
Tammy Mackenzie
Beneficiary
Devon Wade Kirkpatrick
Team member
Jack Mackenzie
Team member
Ryan MacKenzie
Team member
Shea-Lynne Mackenzie
Team member