I brought Noah and Evie in to cuddle and kiss their mum today. I’d like to say it wasn’t a facilitated goodbye but while we hope for a miracle, I have to prepare for the worst. I was undecided on whether they should see her. Lou fell into a deep sleep at 1:30 am this…
Someone asked me a few months ago, “when was the last time you cried?” I couldn’t recall. I’ve thought about it a lot and why it’s been so long. Not days, not months, perhaps decades. I’m not proud of it, I think it’s a little strange. The last time I recall tears on my face…
Happy New Year to Lou’s essential supporters. 2018 was a challenge for us. 2019 will not be any easier, we know that. We’re a long way from the summit, the air is thin and our packs are heavy. We’ll keep trudging with our eye on the summit and your support in our hearts. We hope…
Merry Christmas everyone, from the De-Byrne’s, for this Christmas and the next. We love You! 👨👩👧👦 🤗 Cherish your family today and every day. Be aware of and appreciate the great things you have. 💗
🙏🙌🏽😗💗👊🏾🤗🙏🙌🏽😗💗👊🏾🙏
We’re closing in on a month in Germany, I’m honestly not sure if the time has gone fast or slow. Being in a foreign country, a place I’ve never previously visited, a place with much to do and see but it’s somewhat of a blur. On occasions, you get a minute to appreciate some architecture, heritage, the…
If YOU donated $1 or $1000, if YOU purchased a book for $50 or successfully bid $10, 000 on the Yacht, the gratitude from Lou and her family is as immense. As mentioned in the auction booklet, EVERYONE’S contribution is a true testament that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Believing As…
It’s only 8pm in Frankfurt but the kids and Lou have been out for an hour. It’s blissfully quiet. Just that very faint hotel murmur, humming somewhere unidentifiable in the background. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be waking in my own home right now, getting Noah dressed in his budgies so he…
It was a very long journey door-to-door. Lou got here as good as we’d hoped and the kids were absolute champions. I couldn’t have asked for more. We’ve been here for three days. She’s had one targeted treatment session on the liver with another scheduled for Thursday. She starts some full body treatment today as…
🙏🙏🙏👊🏾👊🏾👊🏾🤗🤗🤗👨⚕️👨⚕️👨⚕️🤞🤞🤞 💓💓💓 Thank You!!
Heart melting over this drawing Noah gave me today. It’s mummy’s cancer battle. Noah tells me the good cells outnumber the bad cells 10 to one and they win!!! He took me through this very detailed battle plan and it sounds like a winner to me!! The three large colored circles are the cancer cells,…
Dear family and friends, the time has come for us to ask for your help. The community that you have created around us is phenomenal. It’s nurturing, energising, committed, sympathetic, and full of an immeasurable amount of love. It’s more than we could have ever hoped for. Having this village behind us has carried us…
When we started this blog on the 11th August we never expected we’d be posting about raising funds for Lou. We also never expected that chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, more chemo, more radiation and immunotherapy wouldn’t work either. With the ongoing expense of fighting cancer now outweighing our diminishing income. We’re overcoming pride and asking for help.…
Remember those wild Thursday nights in the late 90’s, early 00’s at the Greenwood Hotel? I sure do. We’re having another one, all for Lou. Put the date in your diary now. Let’s make it a sellout. While all the details are to follow, if you or anyone you know can source an auction item please…
I was just looking at my calendar and thinking, we’ve had a bad run. Yep, Fuck You Cancer, you’re making us work for it. Lou’s only had a few good days since 10 September. It’s mainly the Paarp pills that are causing severe fatigue, nausea, anxiety and pain. It’s a real kick in the face when…
11/October/2018 In two weeks, if Lou is in satisfactory health with her current treatment plan, I’m going on a journey. My dad, brother and I are going to be rafting, trekking and bike riding The Borneo jungle, Coast to Coast. When cancer becomes your life, it helps to relate other peoples struggles to your own. There…
So this is me on Sunday morning (no makeup), it’s early, the sun hasn’t even graced us with its presence. I’m 41 and still get excited about the day ahead when I know it’s going to be fun. Evie and Noah are asleep, I do want them to wake but I remain very still as…
Your brain covers a lot of distance in many different directions when mortality is on your doorstep. I truly believe Lou will be around much longer than the ominous sentence most pundits prescribe. But when time is an unknown, it keeps your brain humming. If you knew you had months, years or decades, you would…
My brother Happy and I had the best few days on the snow, in the sun, with Faith and Noah. What an escape. Alpine air in the lungs, fast turns and family time. #Winning
Three days ago I had a full blown panic attack in the middle of a crowded flight, that had only just taken off, trolleys blocking both my ways out. I knew it was coming. It started with shortness of breath, a warm feeling crawling up all my limbs, nausea, shoes kicked off, sweating, panic, heart…
A little bit of humour leading into the weekend. Lou had a week to herself in Cleanland (Queensland), relaxing and preparing for the next phase of treatment. She’s feeling tip-top so, why not a little laugh. Evie Pops loves a mashup. She has an amazing, un-deliberate ability to mash together not only words but multiple songs…
I didn’t know it was possible to be so proud of a five-year-olds achievement. Today Noah was presented, in front of his whole school, the Kindergarten Blue Award. Days like this make you feel like a million dollars. Noah, I honestly don’t care what profession you choose, what sport you play, what social or sexual preferences you…
So yesterday at our Immunotherapy kick-off meeting, Professor Kefford gave Lou a quality compliment. Not bad coming from someone who has been working with cancer and treating cancer patients with chemotherapy, radiation and Immunotherapy, from before Lou was born. “I’ve been doing this job for forty years and haven’t seen anyone that looks as good as you do for…
I thought I’d share a personal email I sent Lou at the beginning of this cancer journey. Umm yep, I send my wife emails that are non-work/admin related. Somehow my keyboard knows what to say when my mouth doesn’t. If it wasn’t for modern comm’s technology (SMS, email, social etc) I may well be classified…
Yesterday was a bad day on the rollercoaster. Tough, overwhelming, painful and exhausting. I want to tell you all about it but before I do I want to thank every single one of the 502+ people who have shared our post looking for other women like me. It’s unbelievable how supported we feel. We’ve had…
Without anyone telling Noah that mummy was in a precarious situation, he knew something was up. Five-year-olds are way more clever than often credited. They might be doing simple sight-words and basic maths, but they know a hell of a lot. In a meditation class at school last Tuesday, Noah (a good Catholic boy like…
It’s been seven days since Lou’s oncologist dropped the mother of all bombs on our lives. Yeah, we’d been living with cancer for over a year. Yeah, Lou had been brutalised with 14 months of barbaric treatment. Yeah, it disrupted our lives as we ran the cancer gauntlet while trying to keep some family structure.…