J – “Since we last spoke back in October a lot has happened. About 2 weeks ago I started getting really weak and weird headaches. I had radiation in January because the cancer had spread to my brain and we’ve sort of cruised along since then, went through the steroid treatment and blew up big time. About 3 weeks ago we found out it’s in my spine and grown in my brain again.”
R – “Yes, that’s why Jodie’s unsteady on her feet now so hence the wheely walker.”
J – “As we talked about in the first post it started in the breast. Triple negative breast cancer. It’s just a bastard. They say there’s nothing they can do now but I’ve been here before. Someone can say, you’re a dickhead but does that mean it’s true? At the moment we just have to keep on going.”
R – “She has a spot on her liver and a spot on her lungs and the chemo she was having before was shrinking the spot on her liver but wasn’t shrinking the bit on her lung. Adam Boyce, Jodie’s Oncologist was confused as it was the same cancer cells.”
J – “It’s weird though because I haven’t had any trouble with the chemo but now my body won’t tolerate it anymore.”
R – “It’s been 3 years and in all honesty out of those 3 years if you take the time it takes to get out of her system it’s probably been 2 months where her body has been more or less poison free.”
J – “You just have to keep on going. Like today and yesterday I can feel it in my chest, heaviness and I feel like I’m labouring.”
R – “The shortness of breath is from what’s happening in her lungs. She bloody well ran a half marathon on the Gold Coast with lung cancer.”
J – “(laughs) We didn’t know, that was 2 years ago.”
R – “(Beaming) Tell her about your awards Jode!”
J – “This year we got The NSW Regional Woman of the year award and I was also named Lismore Citizen of the year which was amazing.
I have a 20 year old and a 17 year old. What else am I going to do in my situation other than try and help other people. I have other businesses but I can’t do anything, I have a good team. Jodie’s Inspiration is the big thing now because you know what you’re doing is helping people. We’ve put a lot into it but I love it. My friends and family are unbelievable.
We’ve added more to our coffers with the golf day fundraiser which raised about $12,000. We’ve raised over $70,000 last year with Pink Halloween. Just last Saturday The Marist Brothers put on a charity football match for us and raised about $14,000. We ran a raffle, auctioned off jerseys and one of the top A grade players shaved his head. Our ultimate goal at the moment is getting something in the Lismore Base Hospital.
We are running The Pink Halloween again this year. Tickets are $70 each and it’s at Trinity Sports Centre again. Basically wear pink or fully dress up. Last year almost everyone dressed up in the best costumes. In fact in you were’t dressed up you felt out of place. The money raised this year we are hoping to donate to the Base. We would love a Jodie’s Inspiration House which would be a Palliative Care house so that when you are going to die with dignity you’re not just jammed in a little clinical room.”
R – “We want a place with nice rooms, a lounge room, a kids room where they can play, colour and somewhere people can come and feel like home.”
J – “I’ve been stuck here in my bedroom for the last week which hasn’t been so bad as I had 5 minutes to myself but when the time comes it’s not going to be a very nice time for anybody involved so at least if you can be in your own surroundings in a facility as such, you are where people can come and see you.”
R – “The most daunting thing about it is, you know every time you walk into that room….Oh that’s where so and so passed. Whoever it is, partner, spouse, whoever. You don’t want to have to pack up your family home because you can’t handle the memory. You know to have a Palliative Care House is the grand scheme of things.”
J – “We are now a fully fledged Not for Profit Charity organisation. We have Adam Boyce, he is the medical man, Jessie Smith is our Chairman. Vicki Finess and Cheryl Bourne are the Treasurers, Betty Anne Durheim is our visionary, she sees what I see. Jenny Cook is our legal voice. We have it all covered so worst case scenario when I’m not here it still goes on without me. All the money raised, every cent goes toward the charity. There’s no admin fees, nothing. Everybody involved right across the board volunteer their services.”
J – “I’m weaning off all the drugs now because there’s nothing they can do. Adam said there’s nothing that he can do now…it’s just a matter of time.”
R – “We’re just pushing shit uphill in a sense, we’re still looking, I suppose with chemo options our bank of resources is very, very limited. Before we had a heap of things we could try and I suppose this time is so daunting because this is the 4th time we’ve gone through this and it’s come back. This time Adam starts scratching his head, and he said it himself, there’s going to come a time where there’s nothing they can do.”
J and R – “The biggest thing is we want to thank our community here on The Northern Rivers. It’s just ridiculous! For the Marist Brothers football club to auction 17 jerseys off and get $10,000 for them is unreal. The way the people here jump behind us is mind blowing so thank you Northern Rivers.”
Here are the links to Jodie’s FB page, website and the original interview I did with Jodie last October.