Couple take a swing at cancer

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BY JULIA WADE

Driven by his wife’s devastating medical diagnosis, a dedicated husband took to Mangawhai’s greens from dawn to dusk recently, belting his way through 72 holes of golf in a bid to raise some cancer-fighting cash.

Mangawhai holiday-local, Chris Bassett, completed the four rounds of 18 holes – said to be on par to a 42 km marathon – at Mangawhai Golf Club on January 17, teeing off at 5.45am and sinking the final ball 12 hours later around 5.45pm, as part of the Cancer Society’s ‘The Longest Day’ fundraiser.

Construction manager Chris signed up for the challenge after wife Erin (36), an office administrator/PA and stepmother to his two children, was diagnosed with stage four low-grade ovarian cancer in May 2020, after a year of being dismissed and misdiagnosed by a number of doctors.

Accompanied by Erin and supporters both on and off the course, over $26,000 has been raised to date, with the couple requesting a portion be allocated towards ovarian cancer, one of New Zealand’s ‘most undetectable and underfunded female cancers’ Chris says.

“We started with a goal of $10,000 and got there in a week! The support has been incredible, people jumping behind the cause,” he says. “We’ve also had around twenty people driving up from Auckland to do this with us, either on the course, dropping off drinks as well as a friend being my caddy for the day, it’s been amazing!”

 

Symptoms misdiagnosed
The couple want to share their story so others can become more aware of the general symptoms of the critical disease – stomach cramps, bloating, pain during sex and feeling full fast after eating – ‘and so hopefully don’t end up being misdiagnosed like me’ Erin says.

“I also had a swollen lymph node under my arm which got brushed off as well… had all the symptoms which I guess could be signs of a woman on a bad day,” she says. “However, with a year of complaints – as well as a year and half of trying to get pregnant – I was never offered a blood test, it was always explained as constipation or IBS [Irritable Bowel Syndrome] or ‘it won’t be too serious as you’re so young’ and also overweight… apparently you can’t get too sick if you’re overweight according to some GPs.”

 

Cancer shock
Chris ‘put his foot down’ Erin says after she was in so much pain she couldn’t even make it into bed and arranged for her to meet his own doctor, ‘who said she would never diagnose IBS without ruling out every other thing’.

“After x-rays there was a suspicion I had endometritis which I thought was the worst-case scenario… but when a gynaecologist felt the fluid inside me she said ‘you need to prepare, it’s very likely to be cancer’ which was confirmed four days later… I thought my life had ended,“ Erin says.

“I realise now that’s not the case, even though the stock-standard prognosis for my type of cancer is five years, I’ve been told by my surgeon, oncologist and gynaecologist, that I’m not a stat, I’m a person and there are many stories of women living for many years.”

With tumours measuring up to seven centimetres on both ovaries and spreading through her stomach lining, bowel and other organs, as well as a number of lymph nodes in her upper chest, Erin has endured four diagnostic biopsies, an abdomen drainage which extracted five litres of cancerous fluids, a two hour keyhole exploratory surgery and an eight-and-a-half hour hysterectomy, removing both ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix as well as abdominal lining, appendix and a scraping of Erin’s large bowels, all within six weeks.

Six bouts of chemotherapy were also scheduled from August to November although Chris says they were advised that ‘due to the slower growing rate of low-grade ovarian cancer, chemo doesn’t have a high success rate’, and hormone therapy.

 

An official family
Even with all the daunting treatments forecast for the remainder of 2020, the courageous couple decided to ‘make our little family official’ and got married at Picnic Bay, Mangawhai Heads, on June 6, in between Erin’s biopsies and drainage.

“After diagnosis Erin and I wanted to fight this battle as husband and wife,” Chris says. “Thanks to our amazing families we managed to pull off the most beautiful wedding in just ten days! Before diagnosis, we had planned on a big Fiji ceremony but this was more intimate, more of a toast to what we were going through… it was magical, we’ve been so spoiled with love.”

 

Ticking time bomb
A scan showing no signs of cancer after Erin’s third chemotherapy gave the couple some optimism, ‘we were over the moon’, however they are ‘under no illusions that reoccurrence is inevitable’ she says.

“I’ve received the all clear now but it’s a ticking time bomb… at the end of the day 20 years is not long enough, as that only makes me 56 but I’m determined to just keep fighting and hope that more treatments come up… I’m learning to stay positive and not get depressed when a scan is due, but it’s a hard thing to do.”

In regards to the misdiagnosis, the couple are going through the ACC process of possible reimbursement for loss of wages and non-Pharmac medication.

“I actually lost my job to Covid but had interviews lined up a week after I got diagnosed so I had to cancel, it’s a massive loss of wages.”

 

Silly faces
Although residing in Auckland, Erin and Chris are regular visitors to Mangawhai due to a family bach with some members being locals, so naturally the area became a place of solace, a ‘go-to’ retreat for them to recoup emotionally and physically. The couple’s brave sense of humour, including ‘pulling silly faces’ after each medical procedure, also served as a buffer to the harsh realities they were having to face.

“Mangawhai is our escape,” Erin says. “You can’t walk away from cancer, can’t forget it’s there, but we make it into a joke, ‘who’s going to pour the drinks? Well, I can’t, I have cancer’, that kind of thing.

“It is how we have dealt with everything the whole way through, by being ourselves,” Chris says “We’ve had our tough times asking ‘why us’ and got in the habit really quickly to prepare ourselves for the worst as every appointment felt like a kick in the head, but we didn’t want to shut down, we wanted to be an example for others, to keep a positive mindset which I’m a massive believer in.

“That’s how the silly faces came about, we made a promise to each other that every hospital visit and every chemo we would do a photo pulling a stupid face. This was our way of knowing we wouldn’t let this beat us, by trying to bring a bit of light-heartedness during such a tough time in the hope we can also share this with others going through the same struggles.”

 

Golf connection
Mangawhai golf course also holds a special place in the couple’s hearts due to Chris proposing to Erin on the 14th green on December 22, 2019, the date having a magical synchronicity as it is the longest day in New Zealand, the official date for Cancer Society’s ‘The Longest Day’ challenge.

“Golf has been a binding thing for me and Erin during our relationship, hence the reason why I chose to propose on the golf course, and when I saw The Longest Day advertised at the hospital ward, bells were just ringing and I thought ‘this was so us’ so just had to do it… and Mangawhai had to be the club to do it at!”

Although understandably consuming, Erin and Chris try to not let cancer engulf their lives with Erin deciding to not follow the many support pages and Chris ‘banning’ her from Googling online information ‘as it made cancer too much a part of my day’. With ovarian cancer, it is rare for someone as young as Erin to be inflicted, and she holds hope that her youth will help her fight the disease ‘though it’s not a guarantee’.

“One of my heartbreaks is that I will not be able to have children, so I now have a puppy,” she says. “I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of going into a GP and coming out feeling like a hypochondriac, but if you’ve got something in your gut telling you that something is wrong, just keep pushing, go somewhere else, get a second opinion until you feel heard.”

 

n To donate or for more information visit longestday.org.nz/chris-bassett and NZ ovarian cancer advocacy website cureourovariancancer.org/nz

 

Socking it to cancer 72 holes at a time to raise money and awareness; Chris and Erin Bassett are on par to fight Erin’s devastating cancer diagnosis with a positive mindset, humour and Mangawhai as their go-to place for solace. PHOTO/JULIA WADE

 

Making the ‘the big shave-off’ a family event; in support of Erin, Chris and son Tyler also opted for a ‘number one’. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

 

The newly-weds with Chris’ children, Tyler (12) and Violet (10); “Our wedding was magical, a toast to what we were going through… we’ve been so spoiled with love.” PHOTO/SUPPLIED

 

An intimate moment for the courageous newlyweds, one of the couples favourites; “I’m just resting in Chris’ arms knowing he’s taking care of me.” PHOTO/SUPPLIED

 

Golf club support With 71 Kiwi’s being diagnosed with some sort of cancer every day, the Cancer Society relies on the generosity of New Zealand communities to help fund research, prevention and practical support services for the country’s many sufferers and survivors. ‘The Longest Day’ challenge is one way for people to fundraise, with golfers all over the country taking to the green and teeing off, collectively raising over $360,000 at time of print. Mangawhai Golf Club general manager Carry Dale says the Club were thrilled to support Chris Bassett in his ambitious quest, giving him and his golfing supporters free green fees and helping to highlight ‘such a great cause’. “Chris and Erin’s story touched us and given their personal history with our club we wanted to help them as much as we could. They happened to pop in on Saturday before we did our Opening Day prizegiving, and we spontaneously put him on the microphone. Things got a bit emotional, it was great and club members very generously donated $1233,” Dale says. “Huge thanks to our members and to Chris. The conditions were hot and muggy and he played exceptionally well, even getting an eagle on the day, on the 12th hole scoring a 3 on a par 5. Amazing! Well done Chris!”

 

You can’t walk away from cancer, can’t forget it’s there, but we make it into a joke.”
 

“After diagnosis Erin and I wanted to fight this battle as husband and wife.”

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