My niece Alex Piper is aged 41. She has three young children aged 13, 10 and 5. Alex was diagnosed with breast cancer in October, 2010. She had a mastectomy and underwent both chemotherapy and radiation treatments. We thought she was in remission, but recent tests revealed some more spots. After further investigation, unfortunately the cancer had returned, only this time it was in her bones and had spread further (Metastatic breast cancer). Alex now has Stage 4 stomach cancer.
To make matters tougher, her husband Matt is 100% legally blind, having lost his sight just 2 years after they were married. So Alex is the main income earner in their household. Matt provides wonderful support undertaking house duties and dearly loves his family, but of course he’s limited in his capacity to assist.
Alex has been through three rounds of chemotherapy in recent months without success and has continued working through this treatment. Being the unselfish and humble person she is, Alex has somehow managed to keep her illness a closely guarded secret until now, as she didn’t want to worry her kids, or friends. In fact many of her family members were not aware of her current battle until we shared the news about this campaign.
Alex is an incredibly positive person and has done everything possible to fight this horrible disease, but she can no longer do this on her own!
Alex has experienced digestion issues for months from the stomach cancer and now weighs only 44 kilograms. She has just commenced a heavy 12 week chemotherapy program that has drained all her remaining energy. She is unable to work now and the last thing this family needs is more stress, financial worries and rising medical bills.
The strain is starting to show, hence our call to arms with this campaign, as we’ve finally convinced Alex to let us try and assist.
Alex has a massive challenge on her hands, so we need to support her and provide her with every chance. She is a fighter, she is positive and we all are going to be there with her through this toughest of journeys. But Alex can no longer cope with the struggles of bringing up a young family and loss of income. The much needed funding that we raise, will be utilized to both ease the financial burden on the family, help to cover the mortgage and allow us to continue to try and find the best and most innovative treatments possible. But of course, this all costs money.
So now it’s time we helped Alex to try and win the battle of her life!
Just try to put yourself in their situation. A father that goes blind and hasn’t experienced the joy of seeing what his three children look like. And a young mother who at age 38 has a mastectomy, beats breast cancer, only for the cancer to return even more aggressively in her stomach and bones, 3 years later.
No family deserves this much bad luck!
Please share Alex’s story and spread the word. Alex needs our support....we are “All in for Alex!”
And a huge thank you to Brady Halls & A Current Affair (ACA). Click on the link below to view the beautiful story on Alex and her family:
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8927822/all-in-the-for-alex-and-matt 
God bless you keep up the faith