{"id":175142,"date":"2025-12-09T09:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T09:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175142\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T09:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T09:19:07","slug":"mums-cancer-surgery-success-at-risk-as-45k-drug-remains-unfunded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/175142\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum\u2019s cancer surgery success at risk as $45k drug remains unfunded"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe treatment worked better than anyone dared to hope,\u201d Nesbit said in an updated post on Givealittle<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung mum and law student Sariah Nesbit, 25, has been diagnosed with gastric cancer. Photo \/ Givealittle <\/p>\n

After months of treatment, her scans in September revealed that the immunotherapy and chemotherapy had done their job. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no spread of the cancer, and the response was so significant that my medical team changed my status from inoperable to operable,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey checked the scans to see that my giant tumour, which was basically the size of my whole stomach, had shrunk almost completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October, Nesbit underwent a major surgery to remove the primary tumour. <\/p>\n

Out of 24 lymph nodes removed, the cancer remained in only one, she said. <\/p>\n

Now Nesbit faces the challenge of her cancer threatening to come back if she cannot fund the remainder of her treatment as soon as possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctors basically said the cancer will come back around because mine is so rare and aggressive, that mine is likely to come back within a year or two, and possibly worse,\u201d Nesbit told the Herald. <\/p>\n

\"SariahSariah Nesbit has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of gastric cancer that was deemed inoperable by her doctors. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u2018Fight isn\u2019t over yet\u2019<\/p>\n

Nesbit said while the surgery was a success, \u201cthe fight isn\u2019t over yet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo ensure the cancer does not return, my oncologists have recommended I continue the Nivolumab immunotherapy for another six months. This is to mop up any microscopic cells left behind and protect this second chance at life I\u2019ve been given,\u201d Nesbit said. <\/p>\n

Because this drug remains unfunded in New Zealand, she said she needed to raise a further $45,000<\/a> to complete her treatment.<\/p>\n

She was advised that if she does not continue treatment within two months, her cancer will likely start to grow. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am asking for your help one last time to cross this finish line. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have already bought me time, now you are helping continue to have a future with Mahalia-June and Amaia,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"SariahSariah Nesbit was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of gastric cancer. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u2018No mum should have to fight this damn hard\u2019<\/p>\n

Nesbit said after her operation, her children understood that \u201cmummy\u2019s a little bit better\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, the number one question is, \u201cMum, mummy, are you going to the doctors? Are you going to the hospital?\u201d Because they\u2019ve seen me go in and out so much.”<\/p>\n

Nesbit\u2019s mother, Marie Nesbit, said on Facebook that her daughter isn\u2019t asking for a miracle, but rather she is asking for time. <\/p>\n

\u201cTime to be a mum. Time to hold her girls. Time to watch them grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo mum should have to fight this damn hard just to stay alive for her babies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesbit\u2019s mother previously told the Herald that knowing treatment exists but comes with such a high price is deeply disheartening. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to be able to save her life with a card. I would give her my arm if I had to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesbit said she planned to go back to university next year to continue the law studies she was forced to give up this year. <\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe treatment worked better than anyone dared to hope,\u201d Nesbit said in an updated post on Givealittle. Young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9331,93684,806,1975,2534,4187,3401,6119,9872,6099,424,2721,30504,111,43,139,69,6379,6045,55142,10715,7192,8466,3502,6290,1555,2766,8238,112459,19135,4741],"class_list":["post-175142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-chance","tag-45k","tag-as","tag-at","tag-cancer","tag-cost","tag-drug","tag-faces","tag-finally","tag-heartbreaking","tag-life","tag-mum","tag-mums","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ongoing","tag-reality","tag-relieved","tag-remains","tag-risk","tag-second","tag-success","tag-surgery","tag-threat","tag-treatment","tag-under","tag-unfunded","tag-working","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}