Karyn

My story is one of faith, hope and love. In January 2023 I noticed a lump in my right breast. After a mammogram, biopsy and aspiration of my lymph nodes I was told I had stage 2 Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I spoke with the oncologist in Hervey Bay and surgeon about a lumpectomy and got ready to engage with this strange new future. In April 2023, the day before I was due to start chemo, I was called in by the oncologist to be told I was now stage 4 and terminal. I sat there in disbelief as he told me I had 3-6 months left to live without treatment or maybe 6-12 months with treatment. I was 54 years old. I resigned from work, sold our house, cashed in superannuation and life insurance policies. My family rallied and came from far and wide to spend time together as a family. The timer had started. You begin to think of life as moments and memories.

21st April 2023, I started chemotherapy – Paclitaxel. I got hit pretty hard with side effects. In May 2023 I also started immunotherapy – Pembrolizumab. The side effects increased, and every day was so hard to endure. We stopped the immunotherapy in August due to the crippling side effects. I also started some complementary therapies in May 2023. In September 2023, I was able to get to Canberra for the birth of my granddaughter. I also developed an infection in my portacath and went on antibiotics to which I had an allergic reaction and my rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which was a side effect of the immunotherapy, went out of control. My colitis, another immunotherapy side effect, was severely inflamed. I was deathly sick.

When I arrived at our new home in Greenhill in North Queensland, I was so very ill. I continued with the chemo but due to the colitis and RA, I was incredibly unwell to the point that I could no longer walk. My then oncologist in Mackay who is known as Dr Death, was not treating my colitis which then led to me presenting to emergency and being admitted to hospital on 19 November 2023. We stopped any further chemo treatment due to my ill health and started steroids and associated medications. Dr Death told me I would be dead by January 2024. Another doctor at Mackay, I call him AAA, told me I would be dead within 6 months. Dr Angel didn’t give up on me and I was home in 12 days. Dr Angel became my new oncologist in Mackay. In January 2024 I was readmitted to the hospital for hepatitis, another side effect of the immunotherapy. The crazy thing is that my October PET/CT scans showed that I was NEAD meaning there were No Evidence of Active Disease! I had to change my approach or I was going to die, and soon.

I haven’t had any chemical poison treatments since 14 November 2023. I was on steroids and associated medications until June/July 2023. Since ceasing treatment, I have sought alternative and complementary therapies in addition to other specialists and continued my ‘hippy dippy’ approach. I have a strange and wondrous diet and pop pills and rub in lotions all day long, but I am well and alive for the foreseeable future. I was NEAD for just under 12 months, which is a miracle. October 2024 my cancer returned to a couple lymph nodes. I have chosen not to have chemical treatment as I value my quality of life and believe that my natural approach to managing cancer has already given me more time and quality of life. I will continue to fight each day. My faith in God has been a source of strength and comfort throughout this horrid journey of a terminal diagnosis. I have been surrounded by so much love from friends and family, particularly my beloved husband and my 2 children and their families as we deal with the reality of my early demise. It is the love of the people and another chance to spend another day with them that is my impetus to get up and fight each day. I have hope in my natural approach to wellbeing and I always hope for another day and my continued good health. Every day I fight this shitty disease from a body, mind and soul approach. I have beaten so many of my supposed death dates, Dr Angel calls me a ‘walking miracle’. I have taken control of my own treatment and try to find joy in the everyday and try to live each day to the fullest. I pray I can keep fighting it for a long time and when I can no longer do so, meet death on my terms. I pray every day for strength, grace and time…knowing one day my time will run out but also knowing I would have done everything to have one more moment with the people I love.