My beautiful husband, Christian, is the absolute love of my life.
He is the most devoted and loving father to our two young children Ella, age 6, and Hudson, age 5. Christian is described by his mates as an all-round top bloke. He’s community-minded, kind-hearted, and always willing to lend a hand to those who need it.
Heartbreakingly, Christian is in the fight of his life. He has been stoically fighting an aggressive and rare cancer since May 2018 and his treatment options in Australia have been exhausted. His best chance of survival is to travel to Boston in the United States to receive revolutionary CAR T-cell therapy. We are hoping his story will encourage you to make a tax-deductable donation to enable him to access life -saving treatment overseas.
After presenting to our local emergency department several times over an 18-month period with intermittent but severe abdominal pain, Christian was subsequently sent home each time and told he was fit and healthy. It wasn’t until his fourth visit with debilitating abdominal pain that wouldn’t subside, was he finally given a referral to investigate further.
Within a week, Christian, at 35 years of age, was diagnosed with stage IV diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The cancer had spread throughout his abdomen, encasing his major blood vessels and his small and large intestines, and putting immense pressure on his spine. During subsequent major abdominal surgery, in an attempt to remove some of the diseased lymph nodes encasing his bowel, his surgeons discovered the cancer was so wide-spread, that, in their words, to attempt to remove it would be “non-compatible with life.” Christian woke up from surgery with the unexpected news that in order to save his life, his surgeons had to remove one-third of his small intestine, and surgically re-direct his small intestine through an incision in his abdomen, also known as an ‘ileostomy’. Christian not only had to deal with his stage IV cancer diagnosis, but deal with the challenges associated with living with an ileostomy bag.
After a host of medical complications post-surgery, including substantial weight loss and requiring a nasogastric tube to be fed, in June 2018, Christian was finally strong enough to receive 6 rounds of chemotherapy treatment to fight his aggressive DLBCL. He endured hair-loss, nausea, food aversion and ‘chemo-brain’ like an absolute trooper. He withstood a multitude of blood tests, blood and platelet transfusions and intrusive PICC and Hickman lines. Only once did he ever ask the question, “Why me?” A justifiable question, I thought, for someone totally undeserving of his abhorrent situation.
In December 2018, we received the news that although most of Christian’s DLBCL had been responsive to his 6 rounds of chemotherapy, there was still some residual cancer left in his abdomen. In February 2019, Christian received an additional two rounds of intensive chemotherapy, and in March 2019 received an autologous stem cell transplant.
In May 2019, we were given the difficult news that Christian was non-responsive to the two rounds of intensive chemotherapy and stem-cell transplant. He was classified as a refractory DLBCL patient and was told that his options for curative medical treatment in Australia had been exhausted. We were advised by Christian’s medical team at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre that his best chance of survival was a relatively new immunotherapy treatment called CAR T-cell therapy. Christian would need to travel to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, USA for at least 3 months to receive the treatment.
Christian’s haematologists told us CAR T-cell therapy had a very successful curative rate for patients with refractory DLBCL. With this positive news, we knew we had to do whatever it took to relocate our little family to Boston in order to save Christian’s life. With financial concerns weighing heavily on our shoulders, we were advised of the invaluable support Rare Cancers Australia provide for families like ours in order to access life-saving medical treatment overseas.
We are so grateful that Rare Cancers Australia have provided us with this platform to raise much-needed funds so Christian can travel to Boston to receive CAR T-cell therapy. To imagine a life without Christian by my side is unfathomable. Your kind donation will forever be appreciated, not only for keeping our family together as Christian receives life-saving treatment, but for keeping our family together for many years to come.
Christian’s loving wife,
Linda Fraser