A Legacy of Strength, Justice & Compassion

Seven years before Deejay was diagnosed with stomach cancer he went to his GP, Dr Stephen Ward at Our Medical Cranbourne and explained to the Dr Ward that he felt a presence in his stomach -𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 where his tumor would later on be found, and telling Dr Ward he was suffering from: minor lower stomach pain and acid reflux. Instead of running scans or investigating further, Dr Ward completely ignoring Deejays word on what he felt and dismissed it as a “peptic ulcer”. Prescribing him over the counter nexium and gavascon. Deejays symptoms 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙮. We put our full faith into our Dr. Ward, if proper investigation was completed or a second opinion encouraged Deejay would still be here with us today. Listen to your body and 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙪𝙩 - literally.

Hearing "it's cancer" is life-shatterting. Butin that moment, you cling to the belief that the system will catch you - that the doctors and hospitals will take the lead, and you follow their professional direction. From the very start of diagnosis straight away Deejay needed a NGT tube in one nostril to get the black tar like liquid out of his stomach that the cancer tumor was expressing into his system. It took 6 surgeries to get it right, 6 weeks in total we spent at Dandenong hospital back and forth focusing on the surgeons not putting the right length in. 48cm too long which resulted in Deejay almost dying by the tube coiling inside him causing him to loose consciousness and struggle to breathe and swallow. 

It took around 3 months into our journey to get the ball rolling with treatments because of the incorrectly positioned NGT tubes it delayed Deejays treatment. We were told later in our journey by head oncologist if treatments started earlier tumour could have been removed. I remember Deejays first radiation like yesterday, it was the very first treatment of 15, 5 radiations and 10 chemotherapy treatments. Because 1, it was the beginning of seeing how these “therapies” effected Deejay. 2, the bag attached to one of his NGT tubes that held the black tar liquid turned clear! I remember the smile it bought to my face, to see change so soon after radiation gave us hope. Ofcorse it come with a price, his health and wellbeing. I was by Deejays side through every appointment, treatment and conversation all health professionals knew I was his carer and not once did we get informed about the risks or precautions to take while radiation is in Deejays system. Naturally always ensuring he was most comfortable as possible it involved me emptying his fluid bag that was radioactive. Shockingly, neither of us was ever informed about the risks of acute radiation syndrome. A critical piece of information professionals should have provided.

Our values are at the core of everything we do. We believe in compassion, empathy, and the power of community. We are committed to treating every individual we serve with dignity and respect, and to working together to create a better world.