By Brendan Rees
At only 40 years of age, Anthea Fernandes is desperately hoping she can see her two young daughters grow up.
In early May this year her family received the devastating news that the Hampton Park mother was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer – just two months after celebrating her 40th birthday.
The cancer has spread to her liver, lungs, abdomen, bowel and chest bone.There were no warning signs until suddenly in April she had a few weeks of extreme abdominal pain.
“When I got the diagnosis I was just blown away,” she said.
“I’ve started some chemotherapy. At this point it might be 6-12 months treatment but because it’s stage four it’s more about there’s no way the chemotherapy is going to kill all the cancer.”
Anthea, who is a mother to two children, Leah, 6, and Chloe, 5, now faces the fight of her life with months of intense treatment.
And giving up is not an option for the Fernandes family who have launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $35,000. So far they have raised $28,945.
Funds will go towards her treatment, along with daily household bills to make the family’s life easier.
“At this point it’s more about buying me more time so if I get another year or two then I could possibly go in for some clinical trials, things like that,” she said.
Since being diagnosed, Anthea says her normal routine has been “turned upside down.”
“Just difficult to get help with the kids and my husband’s working full-time so it gets a bit difficult for him.”
She says she has been overwhelmed by the public’s generosity.
“I felt a bit bad about it initially because I’m taking other people’s money but everyone is more like this is our way of helping out,” she said.
To assist and donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/helpantheakickcancersbutt.
