Giving Tuesday: The Support Is Still Needed, Even As Time Goes On / Decembeard & Decembhair Starts Tomorrow

On Christmas Eve 2019, I learned my mum had stage IV bowel cancer. She was only in her early 50s.

By the time she was diagnosed, mum was told it was inoperable.

She tried several chemos, but they all had bad side effects, including fevers, which meant she had to stay in the COVID section of the emergency department every time she went to hospital for cancer related issues.

The COVID-19 restrictions triggered her claustrophobia and anxiety, and the state and national lockdowns meant she couldn’t see or say goodbye to her siblings or mother who live overseas, or even her local friends.

But thanks to Bowel Cancer Australia, we didn’t have to go through it all alone.

The Bowel Care Nurse and Nutritionist support made our situation so much more manageable and less isolating.

But that’s only possible through the generosity of people like you.

My mum died in September 2020, at the young age of 52.

I got to spend one full day in hospital with her a week before she passed.

I just wish we knew that you could have bowel cancer for years and experience no symptoms and that young people can get it too.

We dismissed her food sensitivities and fatigue because she was a single mother looking after me and my three siblings, with a lot of responsibility on her shoulders.

Mum only went to see the GP after she began to experience severe pain in her back and in her leg and felt a lump in her stomach.

So, please join me this Giving Tuesday in supporting Bowel Cancer Australia’s work helping thousands of Australians, like my mum and our family.

The pain is still there, and the support is still needed, even as time goes on.

Thank you for your generous and ongoing support.

Read Jana's full story here.