Taumarunui mother Lisa Gailey faces breast cancer as daughter fights brain tumour
Lisa Gailey, a mother from New Zealand, is navigating a personal cancer diagnosis while simultaneously caring for her daughter, who is battling a terminal brain tumor. She expresses the emotional toll and guilt associated with managing two concurrent cancer journeys.
Why it matters
This story highlights the immense personal and emotional challenges faced by families dealing with chronic and terminal illness.
A Kiwi mother who has spent more than 15 years supporting her daughter through a lifelong health battle is now facing a fight of her own.
Lisa Gailey, 40, found out she had stage 3 HER2-positive breast cancer via her Manage My Health app as she rode the bus home to Taumarunui last month.
She had just spent five weeks at Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital caring for her 17-year-old daughter, Tayler, who was fighting a tumour in her brainstem.
The mother of four told the Herald managing two cancer journeys at once had become “absolutely nightmarish”.
“Sometimes my phone rings 10 times a day and that’s all I do,” she said.
“I now have to ask them, ‘Which cancer are you calling about?’”
Gailey also said she felt a strong sense of guilt knowing her own prognosis was far better than Tayler’s.
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