27-04-2025
Gastric cancer: Young mum Sariah Nesbit diagnosed with inoperable cancer, needs unfunded treatment
The young mum said just before her diagnosis, she had started studying law at Auckland University, 'chasing my dream of becoming a lawyer'.
Extremely rare diagnosis
The young mum was diagnosed with Gastric Squamous Cell Carcinoma (GSCC), which has already spread to her lymph nodes and is attached to other key organs.
Nesbit said the doctors initially thought she may have had an eating disorder because she was struggling to eat for about a month before her cancer diagnosis.
On the day of her diagnosis she said, 'I was in shock when I saw the tears in my mum's eyes, that is when it hit me and I started crying.'
'When we decided to find out how long I had, we just broke down,' she said.
'Overnight, everything changed. Now, I'm focused on what matters most: my girls, my health, and making every moment count.'
The young mum said she struggled to tell her daughters, initially saying she was sick when they saw her bandages from treatment, but 'I finally told them.'
Nesbit said she didn't know how much her daughters fully understood when they learnt last week, but she struggled when one of her children's teachers said her daughter wasn't her usual bubbly self.
'When her teacher told me that, I just sat in the car and cried.
'I'm trying not to imagine what they [my children] are imagining.'
'My child has cancer'
Nesbit's mother, Marie Nesbit, said this is the news that 'no parent ever wants to hear - 'my child has cancer.''
The young mum said her medical team is recommending a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy – a treatment that could offer her more time and better quality of life.
Immunotherapy for advanced gastric cancer is not publicly funded in New Zealand, and the hospital has a strict policy that unfunded drugs cannot be administered in the public system, she said.
'I can only access this treatment through the private health system, which comes with overwhelming costs.'
Nesbit's mother said, 'I really want to be able to save her life with a card, I would give her my arm if I had to.'
'It's really disheartening when treatment is available, but it costs so much, it's someone's life,' her mother said.
Nesbit said she is someone who likes to keep her struggles to herself.
'Opening up like this is incredibly hard. But with the support of my family, friends and medical team, I'm sharing my story in the hope that you might stand with me in this fight.'
A Givealittle has been set up to help cover the cost of receiving the immunotherapy in the private health setting, which costs around $45k for one year.
'I really want to thank everyone, even the strangers, it feels like a big load of arms around me.'
