NEW DRUG TREATMENT JUANITA’S LAST HOPE
AFTER battling a relentless barrage of illness for more than a decade, a Coomera grandmother with a rare form of cancer has one more shot at life.
Two days before last Christmas Juanita Hill, 53, was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that affects fewer than 100 Australians each year.
After several failed rounds of chemotherapy, an elusive medication is her last shot at survival.
This is the second time the mother of two and grandmother of one has fought cancer.
The first was 12 years ago when tragedy struck her whole family.
When she was diagnosed with lymphoma, her 11-yearold son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and narrowly avoided going into a diabetic coma, and her husband Wayne had an accident that required spinal surgery.
Her mother was also diagnosed with breast and bone cancer and died soon after.
This time, her husband Wayne has stomach cancer that required surgery and his father had three strokes in the past week and has also had cancer.
Despite the adversity she and her family face, Mrs Hill is determined to keep fighting.
“I’ve got nothing to lose at this stage,” she said.
“Chemotherapy doesn’t work, I’ve got to try something else.
“The thought of not being here with my husband, kids, extended family and grandson is more than I can cope with.”
Her hope is the drug romidepsin, which is not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
It will cost the family $20,000 to buy the drug, money the family don’t have.
Unable to consider a world without her mother, daughter Danielle Hill has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the treatment.
“She’s an amazing woman,” Ms Hill said.
“Our whole family has been through so much and it would be so easy for her to give up but she just never does.
“She has always taught us to keep fighting even when things are really hard – and I know things are so hard for her and my dad right now but they just keep fighting.”
According to Cancer Council Australia, T-cell and B-cell lymphomas combined have an annual incidence of 0.3 to 1 per 100,000 people.
That equates to as few as 73 people a year diagnosed with the form of cancer Mrs Hill has. To help, go to gofundme.com/help-healthstrucken-family.