Boy Waaka: ‘He's doing well’
Support lift after cancer diagnosis
Boy Waaka’s family are keeping their spirits high since being told he has about 12 months to live. On January 5 the 38-yearold Hastings man was diagnosed with stage three papillary renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) with no viable treatment options in New Zealand, so he travelled to Mexico seeking alternative treatment after learning an Australian woman had been successfully treated there.
His wife, Elizabeth, said the cancer had spread around his kidney, adrenal gland and lymph nodes and was “very close” to main blood vessels.
They travelled to Mexico in March and after just eight days of treatment, she noticed a big improvement.
The alternative treatment cost US$53,000 ($77,000) and although the Waakas turned down offers of fundraising, more than $17,000 was raised via a Givealittle page.
Boy and his family have since returned to New Zealand and are waiting on the results of a CT scan, but Elizabeth said the father-of four-was feeling optimistic.
“He’s doing well. “Since we returned from Mexico he’s been receiving treatment here in New Zealand . . . we brought a whole heap of treatment back with us and he’ll carry on with that for three months,” Elizabeth said.
“He was in hospital a couple of weeks ago as he had some fluid on his lungs and that was scraped off.
“The doctors said it looked to be an accumulation of fluid — it wasn’t sudden or anything like that. So he was in hospital for a couple of days then he was able to come back home.”
Elizabeth said they’ve been overwhelmed with community support since her husband’s diagnosis.
“We just can’t believe it, we’ve still had ongoing support, the company that we work with has been amazing and continue to support us as they’re still doing fundraisers for Boy as well.
“We get emails and messages from so many people just offering to do simple things like prepare meals or help with his treatment. The messages of support are the things keeping us going through all of this. I’d just like to thank everyone who has helped.”