Mum-of-four Elissa Rechich’s shock diagnosis after husband beat cancer

A mother of four whose husband beat cancer now has a fresh battle.

Elissa Rechichi with her four children and husband Tony. Picture: Facebook/Tony Rechichi

A Queensland mother-of-four with Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer says she sees everyday as a gift, as she comes to terms with the possibility of leaving her children and husband behind, who himself beat cancer.

St Rita’s College alumni Elissa Rechichi possesses a unique approach to mentally battling her cancer diagnosis that makes someone laugh and cry profusely.

Elissa was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer in October 2022 and this came as an even greater shock to the family, after husband Tony defeated an aggressive form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma that he was diagnosed with in 2020, following chemotherapy, surgery and a long recovery.

Between October 2022 and April 2024, (when a pet scan in April this year revealed three tumours had returned) Elissa went through two surgeries, a rectal and liver resection, along with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Now the mother-of-four is starting down what she calls ‘the mother of all surgeries’, HIPEC surgery booked for October, which typically lasts for 14 hours.

Cancerous tumours are surgically removed and then heated chemotherapy drugs are applied directly inside the abdomen to eliminate remaining cancerous cells.

Elissa and Tony Rechichi have been together for 14 years, through each other’s own cancer battles. Picture: Facebook/Elissa Rechichi

“I’m more petrified of this one than the other surgeries,” Elissa said.

“They open you up to find any visible cancer, move organs around and then stitch you up.

“It requires a three-four week stay in hospital and anywhere from a 6-12 month recovery.

“Most people can’t sleep in a bed afterwards due to pain, they need a recliner.

“You do worry about the side effects and there’s always complications.”

The family’s first shock of Tony’s diagnosis in 2020 came after he suffered night sweats, unexplained weight loss and an innocent comparison of lumps on their necks, when Tony felt his lymph nodes were huge.

It was especially scary as Tony’s uncle’s both suffered bowel cancer, one fatally and two cancerous sisters dealing with it in ovarian and breast forms.

Tony and Elissa’s four children are Milan (12), Ella (9), Leo (7) and Will (4).

“We must’ve done something bad in a previous life for this luck,” Elissa said.

“Tony is a strong person but at the time of his diagnosis I fell in a heap.

“You just don’t think it’s going to be cancer.

“Will was born in February and Tony was diagnosed in October.

“His thoughts were, am I going to see my children grow up?”

Thanks to salary contributions from Tony’s union, who works in construction and Elissa cutting her hours in the automotive industry back to part-time from home, the family were able to financially pull through Tony’s cancer fight.

Now it’s a different story.

Elissa Rechichi says her eldest child Milan understands what her mother is going through but Milan’s three younger siblings each have less of a grasp on the situation. Picture: Facebook/Elissa Rechichi

Close friends of Elissa, Natalie, Louise and Tracey have set up a GoFundMe campaign, to help cover the cost of significant ongoing medical costs, medications and therapies.

With over $15,000 already raised, Elissa has purchased a hydrogen and oxygen machine which she uses two hours daily and a sauna also used daily, as forms of natural therapy.

“My medication costs $1500 for two months alone,” Elissa said.

“I’m on 35 different tablets.

“Cancer hates oxygen so I plug that machine into my nose for two-three hours daily.

“I also fast two days a week to stop feeding the cancer and I’ve even gone vegan.

“I can sit there and do what they say or I can look into these therapies.”

Elissa was brought to tears when she spoke of the impact her cancer fight is having on her children, especially when they see her lying in a hospital bed.

“It’s all about the kids, it’s never about you,” Elissa said.

“I allow myself one day to wallow in self pity and then you have to pick yourself up from there.

“Staff at my kids’ school know because I had to make the school aware to monitor my children.

“I’ve got such wonderful people around me to pick them up from school, drop them off and provide meals at hospitals.

“My cancer is a little more embarrassing, it’s asshole cancer.

“I laughed with my surgeon in my colonoscopy and said nobody has seen my asshole as much as you.

“I joke and it’s my coping mechanism.”

Elissa was born in Melbourne but moved to Queensland in 1988 and completed most of her schooling in Brisbane, at St Rita’s College.

She moved back to Melbourne in 2004 and the family lives in Avondale Heights now, but they wish to move back to the sunshine state and be with extended family, once Elissa is hopefully in remission.

“It’s stage 4, it’s for life, it’ll never go,” Elissa said.

“You have to find some kind of positive.

“I’m aware of other people’s struggles and just because I have cancer, it doesn’t make mine any more important.

“Whether it’s depressed children, mental health, covid and this cost of living.

“You can’t compare and say your worst off because you have cancer.”

You can make a donation to support Elissa and her family here.