Rebecca received the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in June 2020. We were all stunned. At that time it was stage 1. By the time she had surgery in July, it was stage 4. It was the beginning of the pandemic and a nightmare for us as it was difficult to go anywhere else for clinical trials. She did have the standard of care – cisplatin and gemcitabine and it worked for awhile.

At Christmas she was told the tumor was not responding to the chemotherapy. She switched to a second line. We sent the tumor biopsies off for biomarker testing and unfortunately there were no trials available for her to participate in. Radiation therapy was tried but ineffective.

Throughout it all, she was amazing and was the conductor of her therapy, always involved in the decisions. Near the end of her life, she wanted us to continue her fight against cholangiocarcinoma. We were not ready to let her leave us but on June 30, 2021, she died at home surrounded by her family.

We started the registered charity “Cholangio-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Canada / Carcinome Cholangio-Hepatocellulaire Canada” to honour her and carry on her fight against CCA.