Ursula was born with another rare cancer, Retinoblastoma, and lost the sight in her left eye to this disease at only 7 weeks old.
Thankfully doctors were able to preserve the sight in her right eye – a gift considering she went on to become a photographer in her adult life.
In 2018 Ursula was running her own photography business and training & competing in the sport she loves – artistic rollerskating – and had just qualified to represent Australia at her first International competition when her sports massage therapist discovered a hard mass in her abdomen. A series of tests revealed the awful news; Ursula had another rare form of cancer – Leiomyosarcoma - and needed surgery immediately to remove the large tumour in her abdomen, meaning she had to withdraw from the International skating competition.
After a long physical recovery from the surgery, Ursula eventually got back to her skating and had just resumed some semblance of a normal life when a check up scan revealed the worst news imaginable. The cancer had spread to her liver, meaning Ursula was now Stage 4, and deemed incurable by current means of treatment. In order to extend her life Ursula underwent chemotherapy which yielded a small success – some shrinking in her existing tumours, but was told that this was likely a temporary state and that the disease would progress again in the near future and likely continue spreading to other areas of her body.
Treatment for leiomyosarcoma and other forms of advanced sarcoma are extremely limited in Australia. Whilst many complimentary therapies and forms of immunotherapy are being trialled for patients with advanced sarcomas in the US, Europe and other countries, treatment in Australia remains extremely limited to standard line therapies that have not changed in decades.
Ursula plans to travel to the US in December to meet with Dr Seth Pollack, a world leading sarcoma specialist, to discuss additional and alternative treatment options outside of the limited standard line treatments available in Australia, particularly those that are immunotherapy based and may have a miniscule chance of being curative. She is also exploring treatments through other sarcoma specialists in the US and beyond in order to try to extend her life significantly or find a cure, before her disease progresses much further.
Your funds will go towards her trip as well as future costs of immunotherapy drugs and treatments which she will have to pay out of pocket at full cost – anywhere from $6,000 per dose and upwards. If there were a clinical trial in the US that she was eligible, this would also be at a significant cost to her to relocate and take part in. Funds will also help towards her ongoing expenses for alternative and integrative medicines, which she is taking alongside conventional treatment in an attempt to further support her body and increase her survival outcomes.
Thank you so much for your support.