Terminal cancer patient’s special final holiday
A woman with terminal cancer will take her family on an overseas trip to make some special final memories before she dies.
Alison Mackenzie learned she had bowel cancer in March, despite multiple doctor’s visits that left her with no indication anything was wrong.
Mackenzie, 44, was told she had weeks to live, before being turfed out of Palmerston North Hospital and then told chemotherapy should be for people they could actually help.
The hospital eventually made a U-turn and offered her treatment.
Public support for her cause raised enough money for a trip to Australia next month to make some family memories for her children.
But as they now plan a getaway to the Gold Coast, she has been dealt another blow. ‘‘I feel better than I was. It is a bit of a rollercoaster. I had a second scan and it was not positive at all. They were umming and ahhing whether to carry on with chemo at all.’’
Treatment would continue, but the news had been a leveller. ‘‘It is back to thinking about dying again, rather than living. I had been more focused on planning, but then the scan came. Then it was ‘how much time do I have left’?’’
She had so far had four rounds of chemotherapy, but did not have a prognosis. ‘‘They are reluctant to say anything.’’
Mackenzie was keeping positive though. ‘‘I’m still alive, that’s a bonus.’’
The trip was something to look forward to, she said. ‘‘I will probably end up just watching a lot, I guess, but I do want to have a go at indoor skydiving. I think I would be able to do that.’’
Mackenzie was looking at all types of treatment options.
She said there was still not enough public awareness about bowel cancer. It kills more than 1200 New Zealanders a year – more than breast and prostate cancer combined.
However, it is curable in more than 75 per cent of cases, if caught early.
Mackenzie said doctors initially dismissed her concerns because she was considered too young to have the disease.
She was unsure if her cautionary tale had highlighted the issue enough. Her husband Dion Mackenzie urged more awareness as well.
‘‘We have to educate the young coming through with a new attitude. It’s like brushing your teeth. It should be the same about being healthy and getting checkups.’’
He said a lot of people with bowel cancer were middle-aged. ‘‘It is something we can rectify down the track [if we educate young people now].’’