On October 24th at 12pm NZDT (which is Oct 23 at 7pm EDT), I’ll be once again part of the Livestream for the Cure event that raises funds for the Cancer Research Institute.
This event means the world to me.
Especially this year.
I lost my aunt to a body riddled with cancer on June 29th 2026.
She was diagnosed with terminal cancer on my birthday (17th March) after being admitted to hospital because she couldn’t stand up. She thought she’d just hurt herself… turns out cancer had been spreading prolifically through her body and had disintegrated her vertebrae.
From the diagnosis to her passing was incredibly quick. She lived a 2 hour drive away from me, but I made as many trips over as I could to help her and my mum who was her primary caregiver.
Over those few short months she was incredibly stoic and though at the end she was suffering from pain even with the meds and wonderfully careful caregivers, she quietly slipped away in the comfort of her own home surrounded by her two remaining sisters and after having received the most wonderful support from her hospice team.
Last year, we said goodbye to my grandmother, and less than 12 month later we said goodbye to my aunt.
On top of that, my mother-in-law has been battling bowel cancer which had been diagnosed late despite her best efforts of requesting further testing due to her symptoms. Followed by a very rigorous and intense treatment plan of both chemotherapy and radiation once she finally got her diagnosis. Since then it has unfortunately been an incredibly slow healing process post-treatment and left her isolated at home for months on end. Thankfully she did get the good news that the bowel cancer was successfully eliminated.
After losing my aunt, my sister asked if I played Pokemon Go – which I didn’t, but I decided to look into it and ended up creating an account. It was so much fun (and overwhelming) to get into around the 10th anniversary celebrations, and to send and receive postcards with my sister in Australia and from familiar places in NZ. My aunt loved gaming and I think she would have thoroughly enjoyed Pokemon Go for the incentive to get out and about and all the milestones there are to achieve.
I’ve just recently completed all the base set of milestones with my sister as she sent me her referral code which gave the both of us rewards as I learned how to play. We also have a separate group chat just for Pokemon Go hype.
Though I haven’t been able to be a part of the Livestream for the Cure for the past couple of years, I felt that with the event being in October instead of May, and the loss of my aunt in June, I would do what I could to have a live segment.
I’ve said before, that I want to stop collecting cancer stories, and I truly hope that I can! I also want immunotherapy to be more widely available for more cancers because despite the long list of people I know who have or have had cancer, I don’t actually know anyone who has been able to receive immunotherapy. I do know that Ben Brown, founder of The Tourette’s Podcast, his dad received immunotherapy and it really helped him, and I want that for more people!
All that to say, I would absolutely love it if you can tune in live during my segment. I will be about what I’ve been up to over the past couple of years, my health journey, the loved ones I’m remembering and sharing about what has been lighting me up – bringing me joy – amongst the stress and grief that I’ve experienced.
Huge shout out to Phil Rood who helped me sound out my ideas and created some of the Pokémon themed social media promo post images. And also to Zachary Jackson for his offer to help!
It will mean the world to me for you to join me live:
What: Livestream For the Cure X (10th anniversary of the event)
Where: twitch.tv/livestreamforthecure
When: Oct 23 at 7pm EDT // Oct 24 at 12pm NZDT