A local Lismore family has been hit with the news that no one wants to hear at any time of the year, let alone Christmas: that one family member has been diagnosed with cancer.

Lindsy Barton has been diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that typically affects children and about 1% of adults.

Lindsy and his partner Heidi Green own Furniture Wiz in South Lismore.

The Lismore App has followed their story through the February 2022 big flood, which wiped them out personally (house) and professionally (business).

Our last story was entitled 'Happier Times" as they moved into larger premises on Three Chain Road, South Lismore (from Casino Street), to get their heads above water after a tough period, like so many other businesses.

This story starts in December 2021, just two months before the 2022 floods, when Heidi was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

"I have a mass in my head. So, I'm in what they call remission at the moment. I get scanned every year just to make sure it's not growing any more," Heidi said.

The second bit of bad news was the floods of 2022, and they say bad news travels in threes, which is where Lindsy's story begins.

"We found a lump on my left calf muscle back in July," Lindsy explained, "Being the typical person, I didn't really do much about it because I was too busy with the shop. I thought, I'll deal with that later.

Lindsy and Heidi's son Reece had a lump in his calf on the same leg, which turned out to be fatty tissue so that lowered the urgency. Reece's was operated on and removed.

"It wasn't till my mum found out that she had cancer of the uterus that made me think, okay, maybe I should get it checked.

"We had the ultrasound on the Friday, and the ultrasound lady said you need to go straight to a doctor. This is urgent.

"When I came home, I started to feel a bit sick. I'd had been off, but I felt like I had the flu or something, and I hurt my back. We had to go to the doctor on Saturday, and then I got admitted to hospital with pancreatitis. Just doubled over in pain, I was on endone every three hours, sleeping in between because I couldn't handle it anymore.

"While we were in hospital, we're pushing the point that we had to get the results of the ultrasound. They were meant to arrive on the Monday, but because we're in hospital, we couldn't get to the doctor to get the results."

After a phone consult with their doctor in Goonellabah, it was determined Lindsy needed an MRI and a biopsy sooner rather than later. It turned out that being in hospital at the time was a blessing as it meant they could do both quickly.

"That's how we found out that the lump was a little bit more serious than what we thought it was," Heidi added.

The next step was a trip to Brisbane to meet the medical sarcoma team, who said they thought Lindsy's lump was disorganised blood vessels. That was followed by another trip to Brisbane for the biopsy, and after arriving back in Lismore, Lindsy had a flare-up of pancreatitis, so he was back in hospital.

At the same time, the Brisbane hospital said Lindsy needed to go back to receive his results in person. It could not be done via video conference call.

"They said I don't care if you have to transfer him, but he has to be here," Lindsy continued.

"So, it was out of hospital, pack the bags, and we went back to the other hospital and waited for the results, and that's when they told me that I had Ewing sarcoma. It's pretty aggressive, can spread through your body, so it either goes into your bone or into the soft tissue. 1% of adults get it, so it's pretty rare for an adult to get it."

Lindsy described Ewings as two cells that fuse together and multiply.

The news from the doctor in Brisbane was everyone's worst nightmare.

"He said, look, you've got 12 months' worth of chemo ahead of you. You have to come up to Brisbane every fortnight to have the chemo. We can't do it in Lismore. That was a bit of a shock to the system."

The positive news for Lindsy is the 70% success rate for people with Ewing sarcoma following treatment. It is important that this treatment works and that the cancer doesn't return because the success rate drops to 12%.

Chemotherapy every two weeks in Brisbane means that Lindsy cannot continue to work at his passion, Furniture Wiz, for at least that 12-month treatment period.

"So after that, we came back to try and devour that sort of news and said to John and Jade, who work here, that we have two options. We can either pack up the shop because I'm 90% of it, I guess, otherwise, I'll hand it all over to you guys, and you can run it. We'll just reduce the shop down, change the hours to suit them. They said they want to try and run it, and we'll help them as much as we can."

The big issue for Lindsy and Heidi is that they will have no wage for twelve months. Lyndsy will more than likely not feel well enough to work during that time, and Heidi will be his full-time carer. So, they have set up a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to get through the next year.

Lindsy has been told he is a Stage 3 cancer patient. It is a bit early to tell if the sarcoma has spread into other parts of Lindsy's body. A PET scan will determine that in the next two weeks, along with another MRI and an ECG.

"I was lucky it was in my leg, and we noticed it because if it was anywhere else, we wouldn't have noticed it. There is no physical pain to it. It's just like a silent killer."

There are still some questions unanswered by Lindsy's Ewing sarcoma team because the oncologist nurse has been away.

"So, a lot of the questions that would normally get answered straight away, like accommodation and stuff like that, that can't be answered now. We don't know how far away from the hospital he can be having chemo every day. Do we have to be within the block radius where there are a lot of accommodation blocks at the moment, which are used by people who are in the hospital, or can we go ten minutes away?"

Lindsy's typical routine will involve alternating weeks.

"Week one, we have five days, four hours each day, and then have a week off. And for week two, we have two days, two and a half hours each day, and then have a week off. Then, that cycle repeats itself for the rest of the year.

"The hardest part is with accommodation. I don't know how good I'm going to be after the chemo, even though we're up there for a week. I still might not be able to move for a week. I don't know how toxic the stuff is. Maybe I can't go anywhere new for 48 hours. There's still a lot of unknowns at this stage."

Lindsy and Heidi will get some financial assistance through IPTAAS, a NSW government scheme to help people with some travel and accommodation costs when they have to travel more than 100km for treatment.

"You get 40 cents to the dollar for your kilometres, and then you get $75 a night for accommodation up to eight nights," Heidi explained, "And then, I think it jumps up to $100 per night after that, depending on how long. But looking at the rooms that are in around the hospital, they're all $160 a night. So, you know, you're still up for about $90 to $75 each night for accommodation while we're up there."

"The hardest part is I'm not making money," Lindsy added, "You have to pretty much give up your job. So, because whatever the shop makes is just enough to keep it open. That's the hard part."

Lindsy is a man who is used to working 12 hours or more a day, seven days a week. He likes to keep busy. That is about to change.

"I am not going to be able to do what I want to do. So, to sit still for four hours each day is going to be a struggle. The doctors said I needed to watch the depression side of things.

The goal is for the sarcoma to be reduced in size enough so it can be operated on and removed. Chemotherapy will then continue for another six months. At the moment, this is a 9 to 12-month treatment plan.

Another part of this awful ordeal is asking people for help.

"One of the reasons why we sent you the message was we had to swallow a lot of pride and put our hands out.

"It doesn't sit well. We didn't do it during the flood. We've done everything we've done without doing that. But this is too big," Heidi exclaimed.

"I dislike it with a passion. It makes me sick."

If you are able to help Lyndsy and Heidi, please click on their GoFundMe link https://www.gofundme.com/f/they-say-it-comes-in-3s-and-our-3rd-one-just-hit?attribution_id=sl%3Abf56c361-d5fb-41f0-930c-5e51a8177f37&utm_campaign=natman_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link.

They have an $80,000 goal and have raised $4,485 in just over 48 hours.

Furniture Wiz will remain open for business. Check out their website for the change of operating hours for John and Jade.....https://www.furniturewiz.com.au/.