‘No stage 5’: Tauranga mum’s fight against cancer

Sarena Crane is staying optimistic in the face of a terminal cancer journey. Photo / Supplied

A Tauranga woman is staying optimistic in the face of a terminal cancer journey.

In September 2003, Sarena Crane was feeling run down and experiencing symptoms such as bloating, and said she was told she probably had IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or endometriosis.

An array of tests was done and doctors found a lump. Following an MRI, Crane was sent to a gynaecologist, who revealed there was a tumour in her cervix.

She was then sent to Auckland for more testing and a PET scan. On the drive home, she received a call and was told there was a second tumour in her bowel that they suspected was the primary tumour

“There was a lot of testing, a lot of back and forth, a lot of confusion of how it had jumped into my cervix, not my liver, my lungs or the usual places,” Crane said.

In October 2023, she was formally diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.

Crane remained optimistic as she headed into chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumours. She then had a hysterectomy in March 2024 and a large portion of her top and lower bowel was also removed.

Scar tissue stuck to Crane’s organs and caused a bowel obstruction, which was removed in May. She started chemotherapy again at this time.

Chemotherapy made her feel like “a rat that had been poisoned”, she said.

“I know everybody has different degrees of side effects. I was given a very strong dose and the side effects hit hard and hit fast.”

The Crane family Christmas photo: Travis, 15, husband Steve, daughter Esmae, 7, Hayden,12, Kristian, 20, Sarena, and dogs Pinot and Maggie. Photo / Supplied

Crane experienced bad sores down her oesophagus and mouth, preventing her from being able to eat anything hot or cold, and she couldn’t taste anything.

“You can’t touch anything cold because it’s like frostbite in your hands.”

In September, her chemotherapy finished and a PET scan came back clear.

“We celebrated, we were in the clear.”

But in January, Crane’s three-monthly precautionary MRI found “something suspicious” in her pelvic area.

It was another tumour.

“Unfortunately, it had also jumped over into my bone in my hip; if it’s in your bone, it means it’s travelling through your blood because that’s the only thing that can get into your bone marrow.”

She said this felt like a full-circle moment.

“From a medical point of view, they said there is no cure and that all they can give me is controlled chemotherapy to give me more time.

“At the very beginning, I was told, ‘You’ve got stage four and there’s no stage five'. That was it. It was very blunt. It was to the point and it was a bit of a shock, to be honest.

“When we discovered it was back, those words were the first thing I thought of, but this time I also thought to myself, no, there is more I can do.”

Taking the good

To remain positive, Crane spends a lot of time manifesting and visualising a future where she’s healthy with her family. She visualised her daughter graduating from school.

Crane said she hoped that even though this was not the path she would have chosen for herself, it was a path she was on for a reason.

“I have to take the good and focus on that, not the bad.

“We are lucky every day to wake up and feel good in our body and to be able to move.”

Crane said her husband Steve had always been her rock.

“He is just amazing; he’s more like a caregiver now, the poor thing. I could not have done the journey the way I have without his positivity.”

Sarena Crane and her daughter, Esmae. Photo / Supplied

Crane’s four children, Kristian, Travis, Hayden and Esmae – the oldest 20 and the youngest 7 – were the reason she went into fight mode.

Her boys were hit hard, especially because one of her son’s friends had lost their mum to cancer the year before.

“This played heavily on his mind,” she said.

“He would prefer to spend his days with me looking after me after chemo than he would at school.”

She said the whole situation went over her youngest child’s head because she was too young to understand what was going on at first.

“Now, she’s my little caregiver, and on chemo days she’s getting me glasses of water and patting my head and telling me I’m strong.”

Alternative treatments

Crane said she had researched alternative methods of treatment and had integrated ozone therapy, infrared saunas, ozone saunas and vitamin IVs to support her immune system to cope with the chemo.

She said she refused to accept her terminal diagnosis and she hoped to slow the cancer down, help treat it, or stop it altogether.

To that end, she has found a place overseas that she hoped could help her buy more substantial time with her family.

Kristian, Steve, Sarena, Hayden, Esmae and Travis Crane. Photo / Supplied

Crane said her chosen health centre, Hope4Cancer in Mexico, focused on bio-based medicine and used machines and experimental techniques unavailable in New Zealand.

She said she was aware of the controversies around such clinics and had spoken with people who had been there.

“They are confident to cure or, at the very least, substantially more time. So, I remain hopeful.”

She said her doctor in New Zealand was aware of her plans and supported them.

Crane will do an intensive three-week programme of day-long back-to-back therapies.

It will cost $150,000 to cover return flights to Mexico, her husband being off work to stay in Tauranga and look after the children, their mortgage repayments and any extra medications or treatments.

It would also cover further return flights for Crane because she would need to go back to Mexico after three months for a check-up and more testing.

A friend of Crane’s created a Givealittle page to pay the costs.