We Love Sarah Naish
Donation protected
We Love Sarah Naish
My best friend Sarah was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma Cancer in March 2016. After clear CT scans for a year and a half, her cancer has returned. At 30 years old she is fighting for her life against a disease that is still considered a mystery to the medical community. She is currently seeking treatment outside of the country in the hopes of finding a cure. Due to the urgency of care, she is breaking her silence to rally support from her friends and family to defy the odds and defeat cancer.
Diagnosis:
Sarah's original tumour measured approximately 5cm x 6cm and was located in her abdomen, attached to her small intestine. When it was finally removed it measured 10cm x 11cm. When her cancer reoccured in October 2017 the scan showed a number of small tumours in her abdominal lining around her organs. If it goes untreated it will eventually spread to her lungs and/or liver.
Because of the rarity of Synovial Sarcoma there is no known cure. For this reason she has never been staged or told definitively that she is terminal. In Canada the doctors have run out of options. Available treatments are considered palliative and she was informed the earlier she is in touch with Hospice she will fare better. These are treatments to buy her time, not to save her life. Worst case scenario, with conventional medicine, her outlook is 9 months to 1 year.
Synovial Sarcoma affects 1-3 people out of a million. Sarcoma makes up 1% of adult cancers. 60-70% of the time it occurs in limbs. As Sarah said jokingly after her first round of Chemo “Of course I would get a rare cancer... I can't do anything half assed. Go big or go home!”
There are hospitals in Canada focused on Sarcoma Research and Awareness. Programs are under development in Canada, but they will not be available for treatment for many years. By then it will be too late to save our beautiful Sarah.
Back Story:
Sarah noticed she had been feeling off in the year leading up to her diagnosis. She was tired and frequently sick. She began having issues with her kidneys. Every few months in the hospital with pain suspected to be severe kidney infections. In late November 2015 she was hit with severe pain and began vomiting. She called an ambulance and was hospitalized overnight for observation. An ultrasound the next morning revealed a mass on her small intestine. This began the chain of events which would turn her world upside down.
A CT scan before Christmas 2015 confirmed that is was a solid tumour. She was referred by her doctor to Princess Margret Cancer Hospital in Toronto. Her first appointment was in early February 2016. During this time Sarah struggled with abdominal pain and complications from the cancer, in and out of emergency rooms blacking out from pain. Her tumour was Biopsied on March 10th. She was sent home to wait for results. By March 13th she returned to hospital in excruciating pain. Turns out she had suffered complications from the biopsy and was bleeding internally. She was admitted to hospital and soon after transferred by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. She would remain in hospital for almost 3 months.
On March 18th, 2016 Sarah was officially diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma Cancer. Days later she had a PICC line put into her arm and started her first round of chemotherapy. Five straight days of nearly full strength chemo. She almost did not make it through the first round alive. She was bed ridden, unable to eat and bleeding internally. Making it incredibly difficult to stabilize her. She lost all of her hair, her platelets were so low that the doctors had to order multiple blood transfusions. Still Sarah fought on. Her doctors ordered inter-venous TPN to help her gain strength as she was not able to eat on her own. Two weeks later she underwent a second round of chemotherapy. It was a continued struggle with side effects and getting her bleeding tumour under control. They discovered that her tumour was in between an artery and a vein which was allowing the tumour to regenerate rapidly.
After more than two months Sarah was stabilized enough to have surgery. She was told that depending on how much of her intestine was removed it could permanently impact her digestion. She was marked for a possibly permanent stoma. In the early morning of May 12th at the eleventh hour, her general surgeon had a family emergency and could not preform the surgery. She had to decide to have another doctor do surgery that morning. She bravely agreed to the change with the condition that she could meet her surgeon for the first time before she went into surgery. She was given an epidural and was wheeled into surgery. Her last memory was cracking a joke with the medical team before going under anaesthetic.
After many painstaking hours she came out of surgery and into recovery. The surgery was successful and they determined the cancer had been removed. Thankfully she woke up without a stoma but with a long incision down the middle of her stomach. Sarah struggled with extreme pain after surgery and the doctors had trouble getting it under control. Regardless, after a day or so she got to her feet and proceeded to heal. Slowly but surely she became stronger.
On May 27th, 2016 she was finally discharged from Mount Sinai Hospital. She returned after two weeks and was cleared to go spend time healing in New Brunswick with her family.
Over the next few months she rested, got stronger and came completely off pain medication. She returned to Toronto in the end of summer 2016 to her first CT scan post surgery. That would be her first clean scan with more to follow. She returned to work full time and tried to put it behind her.
Unfortunately, in October 2017 her scan showed that her cancer had returned. Doctors tested her for a T-cell therapy in trials to boost her immune system and help it identify the intruder. She did not qualify for this study. They told her that her condition was considered incurable.
In the Spring she met with her doctors who recommended an oral medication to suppress the disease and keep it from spreading. This drug had horrible side effects. She lost her sense of taste, had extreme abdominal discomfort and her hair lost pigment, turning white at the roots. After two months a scan revealed that the drug was not working and the doctors took her off immediately.
This is where things took a horrible turn. The cancer had metastasized. The doctors were out of options. They were hesitant to use chemotherapy because she had been previously treated with such a strong dose with less than a 5% reduction in tumour size. Radiation was not possible based on the location. Surgery was not seen as an option because the tumours would keep spreading. Her doctors were only able to offer phase one clinical trials that had been running for less than two years. At best there was a 5-10% chance to slow down the disease, it would not cure her, only buy her time.
She was heartbroken and terrified. Her whole life suddenly had question marks in front of it. Everything she had worked for and everything she dreamed. She took some time to deal with the news. She was surrounded with love and support to keep fighting as she fought despair and fear. She had never taken no for an answer and she wasn't going to start now. She began looking for other options.
After extensive research, many conversations, and a lot of questions Sarah decided to seek treatment outside of the country. To explore immunotherapy treatments in Mexico. With her savings and the help of friends, family and friends who are family, we managed to save enough money for her to start treatments.
Sarah spent seven weeks in Tijuana Mexico getting stronger and healthier. They went into great detail tailoring a plan to help her be in her best health and fight her disease. They believe she is able to get better. She and the doctors at CIPAG Clinic have started working on a plan to find a cure.
Treatments:
We are hoping to get Sarah back to the clinic in Mexico to complete surgery, to remove as much of the tumours as possible. Samples of the tumour will be sent away to be synthesized into an anti-cancer vaccine, unique to her disease. It will be reintroduced into her body to help her immune system recognize it as a threat.
Doctors in Mexico have been successfully treating patients for over 30 years using a combination of therapies including the following:
*Nutritional therapy: Diet focused on eliminating processed foods, sugars and maintaining alkalinity.
*Vitamins and supplements
*Hyperbaric Chamber (Oxygen Treatment)
*IV vitamin treatments and detoxification
*Low-dose chemotherapy
*Live cell & Stem cell Therapies
*Surgery
*Anti-cancer vaccine and more..
How can you help?
Please donate whatever you can, even five dollars will help Sarah get the treatments that can save her. We are grateful for every penny.
What Your Donation Is Doing?
*Surgery
*Treatments
*Outpatient care: vitamins and supplements
*Travel expenses
*Accommodations
Please like & share my link with your family and friends.
https://www.gofundme.com/welovesarahnaish
Help Sarah fight. Help Sarah live.
"If you learn one thing from my story let it be this; Be an advocate for your own health. Do not take no for an answer. There is no end to what you should do for you." - Sarah Naish #stillshefoughton
Eternally grateful for your prayers, your kindness, and your donations.
Questions?
Please don't hesitate to ask questions and contact us. From the bottom of our hearts... THANK YOU!
My best friend Sarah was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma Cancer in March 2016. After clear CT scans for a year and a half, her cancer has returned. At 30 years old she is fighting for her life against a disease that is still considered a mystery to the medical community. She is currently seeking treatment outside of the country in the hopes of finding a cure. Due to the urgency of care, she is breaking her silence to rally support from her friends and family to defy the odds and defeat cancer.
Diagnosis:
Sarah's original tumour measured approximately 5cm x 6cm and was located in her abdomen, attached to her small intestine. When it was finally removed it measured 10cm x 11cm. When her cancer reoccured in October 2017 the scan showed a number of small tumours in her abdominal lining around her organs. If it goes untreated it will eventually spread to her lungs and/or liver.
Because of the rarity of Synovial Sarcoma there is no known cure. For this reason she has never been staged or told definitively that she is terminal. In Canada the doctors have run out of options. Available treatments are considered palliative and she was informed the earlier she is in touch with Hospice she will fare better. These are treatments to buy her time, not to save her life. Worst case scenario, with conventional medicine, her outlook is 9 months to 1 year.
Synovial Sarcoma affects 1-3 people out of a million. Sarcoma makes up 1% of adult cancers. 60-70% of the time it occurs in limbs. As Sarah said jokingly after her first round of Chemo “Of course I would get a rare cancer... I can't do anything half assed. Go big or go home!”
There are hospitals in Canada focused on Sarcoma Research and Awareness. Programs are under development in Canada, but they will not be available for treatment for many years. By then it will be too late to save our beautiful Sarah.
Back Story:
Sarah noticed she had been feeling off in the year leading up to her diagnosis. She was tired and frequently sick. She began having issues with her kidneys. Every few months in the hospital with pain suspected to be severe kidney infections. In late November 2015 she was hit with severe pain and began vomiting. She called an ambulance and was hospitalized overnight for observation. An ultrasound the next morning revealed a mass on her small intestine. This began the chain of events which would turn her world upside down.
A CT scan before Christmas 2015 confirmed that is was a solid tumour. She was referred by her doctor to Princess Margret Cancer Hospital in Toronto. Her first appointment was in early February 2016. During this time Sarah struggled with abdominal pain and complications from the cancer, in and out of emergency rooms blacking out from pain. Her tumour was Biopsied on March 10th. She was sent home to wait for results. By March 13th she returned to hospital in excruciating pain. Turns out she had suffered complications from the biopsy and was bleeding internally. She was admitted to hospital and soon after transferred by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. She would remain in hospital for almost 3 months.
On March 18th, 2016 Sarah was officially diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma Cancer. Days later she had a PICC line put into her arm and started her first round of chemotherapy. Five straight days of nearly full strength chemo. She almost did not make it through the first round alive. She was bed ridden, unable to eat and bleeding internally. Making it incredibly difficult to stabilize her. She lost all of her hair, her platelets were so low that the doctors had to order multiple blood transfusions. Still Sarah fought on. Her doctors ordered inter-venous TPN to help her gain strength as she was not able to eat on her own. Two weeks later she underwent a second round of chemotherapy. It was a continued struggle with side effects and getting her bleeding tumour under control. They discovered that her tumour was in between an artery and a vein which was allowing the tumour to regenerate rapidly.
After more than two months Sarah was stabilized enough to have surgery. She was told that depending on how much of her intestine was removed it could permanently impact her digestion. She was marked for a possibly permanent stoma. In the early morning of May 12th at the eleventh hour, her general surgeon had a family emergency and could not preform the surgery. She had to decide to have another doctor do surgery that morning. She bravely agreed to the change with the condition that she could meet her surgeon for the first time before she went into surgery. She was given an epidural and was wheeled into surgery. Her last memory was cracking a joke with the medical team before going under anaesthetic.
After many painstaking hours she came out of surgery and into recovery. The surgery was successful and they determined the cancer had been removed. Thankfully she woke up without a stoma but with a long incision down the middle of her stomach. Sarah struggled with extreme pain after surgery and the doctors had trouble getting it under control. Regardless, after a day or so she got to her feet and proceeded to heal. Slowly but surely she became stronger.
On May 27th, 2016 she was finally discharged from Mount Sinai Hospital. She returned after two weeks and was cleared to go spend time healing in New Brunswick with her family.
Over the next few months she rested, got stronger and came completely off pain medication. She returned to Toronto in the end of summer 2016 to her first CT scan post surgery. That would be her first clean scan with more to follow. She returned to work full time and tried to put it behind her.
Unfortunately, in October 2017 her scan showed that her cancer had returned. Doctors tested her for a T-cell therapy in trials to boost her immune system and help it identify the intruder. She did not qualify for this study. They told her that her condition was considered incurable.
In the Spring she met with her doctors who recommended an oral medication to suppress the disease and keep it from spreading. This drug had horrible side effects. She lost her sense of taste, had extreme abdominal discomfort and her hair lost pigment, turning white at the roots. After two months a scan revealed that the drug was not working and the doctors took her off immediately.
This is where things took a horrible turn. The cancer had metastasized. The doctors were out of options. They were hesitant to use chemotherapy because she had been previously treated with such a strong dose with less than a 5% reduction in tumour size. Radiation was not possible based on the location. Surgery was not seen as an option because the tumours would keep spreading. Her doctors were only able to offer phase one clinical trials that had been running for less than two years. At best there was a 5-10% chance to slow down the disease, it would not cure her, only buy her time.
She was heartbroken and terrified. Her whole life suddenly had question marks in front of it. Everything she had worked for and everything she dreamed. She took some time to deal with the news. She was surrounded with love and support to keep fighting as she fought despair and fear. She had never taken no for an answer and she wasn't going to start now. She began looking for other options.
After extensive research, many conversations, and a lot of questions Sarah decided to seek treatment outside of the country. To explore immunotherapy treatments in Mexico. With her savings and the help of friends, family and friends who are family, we managed to save enough money for her to start treatments.
Sarah spent seven weeks in Tijuana Mexico getting stronger and healthier. They went into great detail tailoring a plan to help her be in her best health and fight her disease. They believe she is able to get better. She and the doctors at CIPAG Clinic have started working on a plan to find a cure.
Treatments:
We are hoping to get Sarah back to the clinic in Mexico to complete surgery, to remove as much of the tumours as possible. Samples of the tumour will be sent away to be synthesized into an anti-cancer vaccine, unique to her disease. It will be reintroduced into her body to help her immune system recognize it as a threat.
Doctors in Mexico have been successfully treating patients for over 30 years using a combination of therapies including the following:
*Nutritional therapy: Diet focused on eliminating processed foods, sugars and maintaining alkalinity.
*Vitamins and supplements
*Hyperbaric Chamber (Oxygen Treatment)
*IV vitamin treatments and detoxification
*Low-dose chemotherapy
*Live cell & Stem cell Therapies
*Surgery
*Anti-cancer vaccine and more..
How can you help?
Please donate whatever you can, even five dollars will help Sarah get the treatments that can save her. We are grateful for every penny.
What Your Donation Is Doing?
*Surgery
*Treatments
*Outpatient care: vitamins and supplements
*Travel expenses
*Accommodations
Please like & share my link with your family and friends.
https://www.gofundme.com/welovesarahnaish
Help Sarah fight. Help Sarah live.
"If you learn one thing from my story let it be this; Be an advocate for your own health. Do not take no for an answer. There is no end to what you should do for you." - Sarah Naish #stillshefoughton
Eternally grateful for your prayers, your kindness, and your donations.
Questions?
Please don't hesitate to ask questions and contact us. From the bottom of our hearts... THANK YOU!
Co-organizers (2)
Allena Pelletier
Organizer
Port McNicoll, ON
Sarah Naish
Co-organizer