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Melissa Galea hasn't added a story.
This is our friend Mel. She is an inspiration to us.
Mel's made a big decision in the last few months - she's got a plan to beat cancer, which has won a few rounds with her body lately.
And you can help.
Mel is seeking a treatment that's unconventional in Australia, but backed by a good deal of research in parts of the United States. We unfortunately have to put her on a plane for her to try it.
Mel's story
In 2011, Mel was diagnosed at age 31 with aggressive breast cancer that had spread to four lymph nodes. Within two weeks, Mel was administered every conventional treatment available to her. Surgery, chemo, radiation, herceptin and tamoxifen. We watched as all of this destroyed our friend, physically and emotionally. It was like caging a beautiful wild bird and poisoning it! After two and a half years of treatment, pain, migraines, menopause, fatigue, depression and sickness, Mel found out six months later that soreness she was experiencing in her neck was the cancer returning, and all the treatment to date was very possibly in vain. All this has left her in constant pain, in chronic fatigue and feeling very uncertain about the future. She promised herself to never put her body through anything like that again...
The scans showed a lesion in her T1 vertebrae had eaten away 70% of the bone and then the vertebrae collapsed by the same margin. There were also a few suspicious spots in the chest... On her 33rd birthday, we took her to hospital with tingling down the left side of her body. She stayed, staring at the ceiling for five days while the surgeons reviewed her case. She was sent home and told to be careful and keep an eye on symptoms. The oncologists can only offer her a lower dose of the same treatment. They had given up hope for her... but we haven't!
Up until today, Mel has self-funded her recovery, worked whenever she could to raise money, and researched alternative treatments. She has taken great care of herself to rebuild what was taken from her.
Now she has almost raised enough funds to get her to Colorado to try an alternative treatment that is not legally available in Australia.
Mel lives a simple life, choosing to live in her 30yr old campervan 'Ruby' for the last 7 years in comfort ... but with her neck is in bad shape, she will need to upgrade to something easier for her to handle. She is still really happy to live this way, even with our efforts to convince her otherwise. She is our gypsy.
Please help us raise funds for Mel's travel and treatment abroad, and hopefully some new wheels!
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