{"id":583394,"date":"2026-08-28T21:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/583394\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T21:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:46:10","slug":"taumarunui-mother-lisa-gailey-faces-breast-cancer-as-daughter-fights-brain-tumour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/583394\/","title":{"rendered":"Taumarunui mother Lisa Gailey faces breast cancer as daughter fights brain tumour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI now have to ask them, \u2018Which cancer are you calling about?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler Gailey (right) aged 2 with her mother, Lisa Gailey. Photo \/ Christine Cornege<\/p>\n

Gailey also said she felt a strong sense of guilt knowing her own prognosis was far better than Tayler\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the lesser of the two evils,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel quite guilty that there\u2019s treatment for me and not for Tay.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her own cancer was \u201cfast-growing\u201d, Gailey said doctors expected it to respond well to treatment.<\/p>\n

But she said the timing of her diagnosis left her feeling as though precious time with Tayler was being taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really feel anything other than annoyed at the inconvenience and the timing, like, what kind of timing is that?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me feel like I\u2019m being robbed of time, whatever time Tay has left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LisaLisa Gailey (left) with Tayler Gailey. Photo \/ Jess<\/p>\n

Tayler had already defied the odds after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour as a toddler and given just nine months to live.<\/p>\n

After 15 years of stable cancer, another tumour was discovered deep within her brainstem<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n

Gailey told the Herald in June that Tayler had lived with \u201ca lot of radiation injury\u201d, including mobility and cognitive difficulties, speech impediments, multiple surgeries, and a hip replacement.<\/p>\n

She has since undergone radiation and suffered a series of complications, including pneumonia, a collapsed lung and blood clots in her lungs.<\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler Paige was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG) in 2011. Photo \/ Lisa Gailey <\/p>\n

Tayler is now home but requires significant assistance, including a wheelchair and hoist.<\/p>\n

Gailey said Tayler was worried about what her mother\u2019s cancer treatment would mean for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought she might feel not so alone in her own situation … but she\u2019s worried, I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s said things like, \u2018But you know that I need you all the time when I\u2019m like this\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think her fear is more not being with me … having to leave her for a day or two to go and have treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler Gailey with her siblings and mother. Photo \/ Jess<\/p>\n

Gailey\u2019s treatment plan involves four months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation, then another six months of chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTayler\u2019s lost so much and I know she\u2019s frustrated, she\u2019s sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot to actually get her to smile, which is devastating because she always had this big smile on her face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TaylerTayler Gailey is battling a tumour in her brainstem. Photo \/ Givealittle<\/p>\n

Despite everything the family is facing, Gailey said their home was not defined by sadness. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe story sounds really, really sad, and it is, but, on a day-to-day basis, Tayler\u2019s still got all her faculties, she still is hilarious. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do, we cope by humour.\u201d <\/p>\n

Funds raised through the family\u2019s Givealittle page<\/a> will help support both Lisa and Tayler through treatment, including travel, accommodation, fuel, meals and lost income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI now have to ask them, \u2018Which cancer are you calling about?\u2019\u201d Tayler Gailey (right) aged 2 with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[806,5837,1596,2831,2534,14032,6119,9881,15124,51175,231421,134,194,21817,12001,130,6178,111,43,139,69,5429,12633,27557,39428,131,210,21733,1530],"class_list":["post-583394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-as","tag-battle","tag-brain","tag-breast","tag-cancer","tag-daughter","tag-faces","tag-facing","tag-fight","tag-fights","tag-gailey","tag-health","tag-kiwi","tag-lifelong","tag-lisa","tag-more","tag-mother","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-own","tag-spent","tag-supporting","tag-taumarunui","tag-than","tag-through","tag-tumour","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583394","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=583394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}