A young Otago mother is making the most of her time left with her daughter after a shock diagnosis of an incurable cancer.<\/p>\n
Clinton woman Briar Dawson, 24, said she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in March after receiving a colonoscopy because doctors suspected she had Crohn\u2019s disease \u2014 an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that irritates and causes swelling in your digestive tract.<\/p>\n
To her doctor\u2019s surprise they found a 15cm tumour in her colon that had metastasised\u00a0to her lymphnodes, liver and lungs.<\/p>\n
Ms Dawson was shocked when the doctor told her she had the incurable disease.<\/p>\n
“It was quite a big shock especially because of my age,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Bowel cancer or colon cancer seems to be more of an older person thing but it seems to be getting a bit more popular in younger people now.”<\/p>\n
Her mother had also been diagnosed with breast cancer in November last year.<\/p>\n
However, hers was not as aggressive.<\/p>\n
She had surgery and was considered cancer free in January this year.<\/p>\n
Ms Dawson\u2019s oncologist told her she only had about two and a half years to live.<\/p>\n
She said making memories with her 3-year-old daughter had gone up to the top of her priorities list.<\/p>\n
Ms Dawson said her mental health had declined a lot since the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
She struggled a lot with anxiety and her treatment was pretty full on.<\/p>\n
Between weekly appointments for chemotherapy in Dunedin Hospital she was trying to spend as much time with her daughter as possible.<\/p>\n
She wanted to make as many memories with her daughter as possible before she dies.<\/p>\n
They had recently gone to visit the zoo in Christchurch and gone bowling this weekend.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve taken her on trips that we can take lots of photos on and enjoy the time together.”<\/p>\n
Ms Dawson\u2019s sister Amy Seymour had made a Givealittle page<\/a> to help raise funds to support with her chemotherapy and help ease financial burdens ahead for her daughter.<\/p>\n