Go Dry for The Alfred This July

Lisa has three grown children and lives with her husband Shane in Mildura, a 6-hour drive from Melbourne. Her and her husband have a morning ritual to get up early and go for a walk along the beautiful Murray River. In late 2019 & early 2020 it became increasingly difficult to go for those walks. She says, “I was just in so much pain, those morning walks became impossible.” When physio and pilates made no difference, Lisa went to her doctor. After a series of tests and scans she received the devastating diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma – A type of blood cancer.

For her more complex care needs and treatment, Lisa needed to make the long trip to Melbourne.

While so far from the comforts of home, Lisa was lucky to have access to the patient accommodation program funded entirely thanks to our donors and participants in Dry July. This meant Lisa and her husband had free accommodation right next to the hospital. As a regional patient this also meant Lisa didn’t need to spend any more nights staying in the more sterile hospital environment than was necessary for her monitoring.

Lisa says, "It was great to be so close to the hospital, and also Fawkner Park across the road for walks. Being away from home for a month was very isolating and it was such an incredible comfort to have a place that felt like home while getting treatment. Having a place for my husband to stay as well was amazing. It was one less thing to worry about!”

From numerous scans, tests and biopsies, to surgery to remove her L1 vertebrae which contained multiple myeloma lesions, then following chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, it’s been a long tough road for Lisa - and while things are looking good, she will still need further monitoring and medication into the future. Lisa has been lucky in some ways though. This condition is most typically found in males over the age of 65. Still in her early 50s, Lisa had the strength and good health to respond well to her treatment. She also speaks highly of the value of finding others in her community living in with Multiple Myeloma, and has found great strength and healing in connecting with these people to share their common experiences.

More than anything, Lisa would like to encourage people to make sure they get any health concerns checked as soon as there is a sign that something is wrong. She says “Early diagnosis can make an enormous difference and could just save or greatly prolong your life and time with your family.”

Lisa would also like to thank her husband, who she says has offered amazing support, as well as her three children, sisters, parents, close friends and other family members. She says she couldn’t fault her care at The Alfred and that all the staff and doctors who treated her were incredible. We’d also like to thank Lisa for sharing her story and experiences for this year’s Dry July campaign.

If you would like to support patients like Lisa and also the staff at The Alfred who deliver their care, you can go dry this July to raise funds for programs like the patient accommodation program that make life just that bit easier for those going through some of the toughest times in their lives.