Amazing Amy Grace

To all those who have contributed to the Givealittle fundraising campaign for Amy Carr, thank you for your support. The campaign is now closed and all funds have been transferred directly to Amy's bank account. Below is a letter from Amy regarding the remainder of her treatment outlining the specifics for utilising the funds raised thus far. ""Dear amazing friends and family and supporters, I'm writing to you for two reasons. The first, is to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your love, support, and give a little donations. These funds will have the most positive affect on my life, aside from good old fashioned l.o.v.e. I cannot thank you all enough. The second reason for writing is to outline how I would like to implement your financial support, after the initial thoughts of going to the Gawler Foundation has changed. Some of you may be surprised by this news but I hope you'll see that my new carefully considered plan of action is what is best for me in battling this cancer. Of course I haven't made this decision lightly, this is about life and living. The two reasons I am not going to the Galwler Foundation are, On my return I will not be able to afford the new lifestyle that Gawler promotes as all the 'Give a little' funds would have been spent on the retreat. Being away from Nico for 10-12 days is now seeming just too long for the both of us. I will explain these reasons in further detail now. During a recent radio interview Ian Gawler (Director of the Gawler Foundation) said gmy patients heal themselves, we give them the tools to get there. That being diet, exercise and meditationh.I thought this was interesting and discussed this further with a Doctor of Psychology who was at one time a hospice nurse and has been to the Gawler foundation three times. She said gYes Amy, that's the basic gist of the treatment there. They get you away from your normal world for 10 days and teach you how to meditate a new lifestyle diet and how to alleviate stress in your lifeh. She said that the hope is that you continue this new lifestyle on your return to the normal world. This is all sounds excellent and the Gawler Foundation has remarkable success with Cancer treatment however his 'new lifestyle' is essentially beyond my financial means as a solo parent, well the initial outlay is. It's a catch 22, I either spend all the funds on going to the Gawler Foundation or I spend the funds establishing what's required to live this new lifestyle to prevent cancer recurrence I will outline the costs of establishment below, and am thinking this is me! The Oscar juicer machine (a particular type of juicer which is best for juicing as it doesn't oxidize the vegetable juice) $550.00 from Harvest Organics or the supplier. Total cost $550.00 Juicing vegetables cost around $50 - $70 a week this also includes Wheatgrass. I will set up a six month credit with Harvest, a total of $1200.00. Total cost $1200.00 Seeing a Naturopath, Roseanne Sullivan, who specializes in Cancer treatment (cost) $200.00. Then supplements will cost around $250.00 a month. I will set up a credit for 6 months supply $1500.00 Total cost $1700.00 Attending three private Yoga therapy sessions with Gabrielle Matches (cost) $350.00. She will advise me on the particular style of Yoga I should be doing in regards to Cancer treatment she will also teach me mediation. Yoga membership costs about $600.00 for six months. Total cost $950.00 I will be seeing a Naturopath who specializes in Woman's Health, Diets and cooking classes. I believe the initial consultation is $160.00. The cooking /nutrition classes are $100.00 every couple of months. Total cost $360.00 Counselling/Psychology/Kinesiology. I can see government funded Psychologist for a few sessions I have to pay for my own. I would rather see a counselor or Kinesiologist and they cost about $120.00 a session. I am hoping from a mental health perspective that 5 ? 8 sessions will get me where I need to be. Total cost, around $800.00. Filtered water jug (alkalizing for the body) $130.00 Total cost of all interventions $5690.00 and the total amount from the 'give a little' account is $5400.00. You can see that it's an expensive lifestyle to establish and quite beyond my capability at present. Mostly what I've outlined would have been recommended by the Gawler foundation on my return to NZ and I would not be able to afford it. It feels like I would have gone away to learn everything but on my return there was no way I could live it which seems really redundant to me. None of the aforementioned treatment is meant to be an alternative to western medicine, its actually meant to support it. Hopefully the only western medicine I will be taking is Tamoxifen (for five years) which helps in stopping my body producing estrogen which then feeds my particular type of Cancer. Tamoxifen has a 50/50 chance of working (along with numerous nasty side effects). The combination of Tamoxifen and my treatment plan should give me a best possible chance of a successful outcome! The outcome is to live with a healthy mind and body and recuperate well from the damage chemotherapy as done to my immune system. I wanted to give you all a really detailed explanation and outline for my Cancer treatment so you could see how seriously I've considered all alternatives and taken the bull by the horns in the decision for my recovery I feel is best for me. Once again I thank you so much for your generous donations, and am looking forward to some positive life changing experiences. Love and best wishes, Amy & Nico""