LILY Hartley does not want you to feel sorry for her. But it is hard not to when you understand all that she has endured.
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The 51-year-old has stage four cancer, a disease which began in her breast 15 years ago. In 2015 she developed a second cancer on her skull. More recently the breast cancer progressed to her hip and spine. She has endured radiotherapy, chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and the uncertainty of the progression of the disease.
The doctors have told Ms Hartley there is nothing more they can do. She is now receiving palliative care.
In June Ms Hartley’s former Belmont High School friends took her out for lunch where she was presented with a travel voucher.
“Unbeknown to me they all put in,” she said. “I booked a ticket to India to go and see an old friend.”
In October she travelled to Banglore to stay with Novocastrian ex-pat Deborah Cocker. She was well enough to explore southern India for four weeks.
On November 5 she returned to Newcastle. It was the anniversary of the death of her 10-week old daughter, Kristy, when she discovered she had been robbed.
Gaining access to her Lambton flat through a sliding aluminium window, thieves took not only her television, but an Apple TV, a wifi speaker, a vacuum cleaner, a diving watch, and opioids prescribed to manage pain.
“It has been a s*** of a year,” she said. “The cancer coming back and now this.”
Ms Hartley said she spent a lot of time inside her flat because the cancer made her very tired.
“I had my Apple TV and I could put the country music channel on and listen to the music, and they stole my speaker,” she said.
Despite her poor prognosis, Ms Hartley said she tried to maintain a positive outlook.
“While I am here I want to live, I want to experience things,” she said.
“S*** things happen but there is a lot of good in the world. You can take my items but you can’t take my love of life.”
Her friends have set up a Go Fund Me page: gofundme.com/lils-household-replacements
