Helping Tabitha Triplett

To those who do not know me, my name is Tabitha and I am the mother of 3 beautiful children aged 15, 8 and 11 months.

I am not usually the type of person who asks for help, in fact I hate doing it, but some recent news has turned my world upside down.

4 weeks ago I was a completely healthy mother of 3 working and enjoying life with my family each weekend.

Early June some unusual medical symptoms which had only been happening for a couple of days landed me in hospital, that night they found the 5cm tumor on my cervix.

Since then it has been a roller-coaster of appointments, scans, tests and procedures while still trying to maintain employment and normality to protect and support my children.

I have been diagnosed with Stage 2B Cervical Cancer. The 5cm tumor has grown in less than 10 months, it is aggressive, and I've been told it's going to be a tough fight to overcome.

Treatment will consist of Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy and Brachytherapy. These are all mostly covered by the government.

But here's the kicker, for these to have the best chance of saving my life I also need to undergo Immunotherapy which isn't covered by the government despite clinical trials and support that it works and is literally life changing when used as part of the cancer treatment.

Immunotherapy is $61,824.00 for the full 14 month treatment. If I want the best chance at surviving this, I have to come up with $3k upfront initally for each treatment which will happen 3 weekly in the beginning. Then $6k upfront for each treatment which will happen 6 weekly for the remainder of the treatment period.

That was scary to hear, it honestly took me a moment to process. I quickly did the sums, even if I sold all of my assets and emptied all of my bank accounts I still cannot come up with that amount of money. Worst still, that's just the treatment cost, that isn't taking into account the income I will lose during treatment when I cannot work.

I am terrified at the thought of not being able to provide for my children, not being able to keep a roof over their heads and most of all not being able to see them grow up. My youngest is 11 months old, the thought of not seeing who she grows up to be completely overwhelms me.

Anything helps at the moment. Anything, any amount, lightens the burden. Any amount is life changing at this point.