Time is priceless
Donation protected
I created this campaign as a wish because I always say I wish it could happen.
The campaign is for myself to give my wife (Holly) something she could only wish for in a hard life journey, I would most thankfully use the money that is raised to fund a leave of absence from work. I work as a department manager in a grocery store and feel my balance between having to be at work and needing to be at home is changing.
The love of my life and my best friend, a true diamond in the rough, started a life threating journey 2 years ago. From what started out as a high probable success became a rabbit warren of unthinkable twists and turns that seem to only go deeper and deeper.
Thinking what was going to be a sprint, turned out to be a marathon, as 6 weeks before getting married on the 6th of November 2015 (And keep our wedding day we did being the cheesy anniversary of our first date), Holly would be taken to the hospital emergency room in uncontrollable pain leaving her in a crippled state on the floor. After having attempted different approaches to what was thought to be a bad bowel experience we had got to the stage where a scan was needed to see what was going on in there. This was the day the 24th September a Thursday morning (a date I will never forget) we would find out that Holly had a mass in her intestines that had blocked off her large intestine, one side blown up the other completely collapsed. By that afternoon we had been told by the surgeon it was cancer and Holly was going in for a major op to have it removed.
Through this journey I have learnt a whole lot more about human anatomy more than I thought I ever would. The operation would leave her with 80cms less of her large intestine with a resection being successful along with a 6 month appointment of chemotherapy. After having the chemo there would be a strange development on a 3 month check-up pet scan that had us be told that there was a now a sign of activity in her neck resulting in yet another spout of cancer giving her a nice scar across the neck after a neck dissection. Before more chemo had a chance to start there was another intestinal scare that seemed to clear up with the chemotherapy, it seemed like everything was on track, and the worst was behind us an almost normalish routine.
The calm before the storm seems like a light way to describe the time to come. Another scan was to be done and we would take a life changing blow that would leave us shaken and speechless and devastated. We were delivered with the news that Holly now had cancer in her ovaries, not one but both and being as traditional and planned out as we were the stages of a 5 year plan was always house - marriage kids giving us the best start to a family we could ask for. Unfortunately due to the chemotherapies intense agenda it wasn’t an option to have eggs frozen thus leaving us one step short of the big plan.
From what we thought couldn’t get any worse Holly would start to have complications, a 10mm brain tumour, that would have her under take cyber-knife radiation treatment that would destroy the tumour with minimal to no side effects leaving her on track with chemo. Meanwhile her kidneys again not just the one but both would start to give her trouble. This resulting in a minor operation to attempt to put stents in to assist in the tubes from the kidneys to the bladder to stay open allowing filtration, unfortunately but better than nothing they were able to get one stent in resulting in a 90% increase of functionality, this stent working as hard as it is has, comes with a 3 month replacement time and gets replaced to no end time. During all this we would get told that the cancer is so aggressive the end result would be a life time of maintenance dosage of chemotherapy. The rabbit warren just kept going and going spiralling it seems.
In the latest developments of this journey we find ourselves on the last PBS chemotherapy there is to be offered and yet another scare and minor operation, a further 50cms of stent put into her large intestine and news of there being mass amounts of tumours within her abdomen.
With what is the last PBS chemo, and chemo being the only chance holly has of fighting her way back out of the rabbit warren I put out this campaign to be able to continue paying life expenses while getting to share as much time with holly as I can as we face what looks to be hard times ahead. I can only say better to have the time now then regret what I never wish to face.
In advance I want to thank everyone that is able to contribute towards me getting anytime that I can cover with these funds. If all funds are raised I can take atleast 6 unforgettable months.
Time is priceless - memories are forever - never live in regret.
The campaign is for myself to give my wife (Holly) something she could only wish for in a hard life journey, I would most thankfully use the money that is raised to fund a leave of absence from work. I work as a department manager in a grocery store and feel my balance between having to be at work and needing to be at home is changing.
The love of my life and my best friend, a true diamond in the rough, started a life threating journey 2 years ago. From what started out as a high probable success became a rabbit warren of unthinkable twists and turns that seem to only go deeper and deeper.
Thinking what was going to be a sprint, turned out to be a marathon, as 6 weeks before getting married on the 6th of November 2015 (And keep our wedding day we did being the cheesy anniversary of our first date), Holly would be taken to the hospital emergency room in uncontrollable pain leaving her in a crippled state on the floor. After having attempted different approaches to what was thought to be a bad bowel experience we had got to the stage where a scan was needed to see what was going on in there. This was the day the 24th September a Thursday morning (a date I will never forget) we would find out that Holly had a mass in her intestines that had blocked off her large intestine, one side blown up the other completely collapsed. By that afternoon we had been told by the surgeon it was cancer and Holly was going in for a major op to have it removed.
Through this journey I have learnt a whole lot more about human anatomy more than I thought I ever would. The operation would leave her with 80cms less of her large intestine with a resection being successful along with a 6 month appointment of chemotherapy. After having the chemo there would be a strange development on a 3 month check-up pet scan that had us be told that there was a now a sign of activity in her neck resulting in yet another spout of cancer giving her a nice scar across the neck after a neck dissection. Before more chemo had a chance to start there was another intestinal scare that seemed to clear up with the chemotherapy, it seemed like everything was on track, and the worst was behind us an almost normalish routine.
The calm before the storm seems like a light way to describe the time to come. Another scan was to be done and we would take a life changing blow that would leave us shaken and speechless and devastated. We were delivered with the news that Holly now had cancer in her ovaries, not one but both and being as traditional and planned out as we were the stages of a 5 year plan was always house - marriage kids giving us the best start to a family we could ask for. Unfortunately due to the chemotherapies intense agenda it wasn’t an option to have eggs frozen thus leaving us one step short of the big plan.
From what we thought couldn’t get any worse Holly would start to have complications, a 10mm brain tumour, that would have her under take cyber-knife radiation treatment that would destroy the tumour with minimal to no side effects leaving her on track with chemo. Meanwhile her kidneys again not just the one but both would start to give her trouble. This resulting in a minor operation to attempt to put stents in to assist in the tubes from the kidneys to the bladder to stay open allowing filtration, unfortunately but better than nothing they were able to get one stent in resulting in a 90% increase of functionality, this stent working as hard as it is has, comes with a 3 month replacement time and gets replaced to no end time. During all this we would get told that the cancer is so aggressive the end result would be a life time of maintenance dosage of chemotherapy. The rabbit warren just kept going and going spiralling it seems.
In the latest developments of this journey we find ourselves on the last PBS chemotherapy there is to be offered and yet another scare and minor operation, a further 50cms of stent put into her large intestine and news of there being mass amounts of tumours within her abdomen.
With what is the last PBS chemo, and chemo being the only chance holly has of fighting her way back out of the rabbit warren I put out this campaign to be able to continue paying life expenses while getting to share as much time with holly as I can as we face what looks to be hard times ahead. I can only say better to have the time now then regret what I never wish to face.
In advance I want to thank everyone that is able to contribute towards me getting anytime that I can cover with these funds. If all funds are raised I can take atleast 6 unforgettable months.
Time is priceless - memories are forever - never live in regret.
Organizer
Steven N Holly Howe
Organizer
South Bunbury, WA