This year, we’re continuing to relay for a dearly loved soul, Cindy Syer.
Cindy was first diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in September 2019. Over the next year and a half, she fought hard and celebrated completing treatment in January 2021.
Appreciating how precious life is, Cindy lived life to its fullest, participating in many activities and taking up new hobbies, including dragon boating with her team, the Breast Buddies.
Unfortunately, scans uncovered a brain tumour early January 2023. Two days after learning of her tumour, she was brought to hospital needing emergency surgery for a perforated bowel, delaying her cancer treatment and resulting in a long stay in hospital, where she received further bad news.
More scans showed that the cancer had spread to cells in the lining of her brain, a condition called leptomeningeal disease, which has no cure. Cindy was told she had Stage IV cancer and a palliative team had become involved in her care.
With no timeline given, we were hopeful that treatment would reduce her symptoms and give us more quality time. However, things took a turn for the worse as her health declined very quickly before she could start treatment. After one session of radiation, the difficult decision to discontinue treatment was made, as doctors advised it would likely not be effective at that point and the cancer had progressed much more rapidly than expected.
By some miracle, we were able to bring Cindy home to spend her last few days comfortable, surrounded by love and family.
Cindy passed peacefully a few days later.

Cindy was deeply loved and supported by many friends and family members. She fought hard in her battle with cancer right through to the end.

We were lucky to have lots of love and support during Cindy’s short but gruelling battle with cancer. Unfortunately, not all families and cancer fighters are so lucky. By donating to our team, you’re supporting these families and fighters by funding access to peer support programs, transportation to appointments, accommodations during treatment, and much more. Your donation also helps fund research to discover promising treatments for cancers like Cindy’s.

Thanks for reading Cindy's story and for your support!