Beating The Odds with Dustin’s Brain Cancer

Dustin and I have been together for the last 16 years. We reside in Lakeside , Cape Town and have 3 beautiful children, Tamia (16), Hayden (13), Blake (7).

Dustin was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer on the 28 August 2019. It all started when he had a Grand mal seizure at work where he was referred for an EEG and MRI and received the awful news of the tumor located on the left front temporal lobe.

He underwent Craniotomy on the 10th of September 2019 where they where able to remove 95% of the tumor which confirmed the MRI diagnoses of Glioblastoma Multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain tumors with a medium survival rate of 12 to 18 months.

This followed by 6 weeks (daily) Standard of Care, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy completing this part of the treatment on the 15 November (his birthday) and is now having to do maintenance chemo for the rest of his life until his body rejects the chemo treatment. (These treatments do have a huge impact on the body and a lot of rest is required during and after treatment).

The reason for appeal for financial assistance is because we do not have Medical Aid,we are having to privately fund his chemo and alternative medications, as Dustin is the main breadwinner in our family, and due to the cost of these medicines we are not in a financial position to assist him financially on his journey to beating the odds with brain cancer.

The current Chemotherapy drug that he is using is called Telemolozide (TMZ) 300mg daily for 5 days, with 23 days rest thereafter and then repeat again. Telemolozide is the only Chemotherapy drug that is able to gross the Blood Brain Barrier to target the brain cancer. Groote Schuur Hospital is our current medical facility that Dustin is currently doing his treatments with but as they are a government hospital they unfortunately do not offer Telemolozide due to the cost involved of this drug. During the "Off Period" he rebuilds his immune system up by supplementing with the following:

* Olive Leaf Extract

* Medicinal Mushrooms

* Curcuma

* Vitamin D

* Vitamin C

* Boswelia Serrata

* Milk Thistle

* Zeolite Powder

* Alkaline Powder

* Prophylactic Antibiotic - to prevent infection and Pneumonia

* Degranol - Anti-seizure medication

Additional therapies needed up and above is as follow:

* Dietitian to provide eating plan to starve cancer cells

* Rife Therapy

* Ozone Therapy

He is a humble and caring person, always extending himself to assist others. Anyone that has ever gotten in contact with Dustin remembers him because of the impact that he has on them.

It is not easy to ask, but I, on behalf of my family, am pleading for financial assistance to provide Dustin with the necessary medicines to enable him to have good quality of life.

Thank you for reading my appeal and any donations and prayers will be greatly appreciated.

With Love from the Heinse family.