Tauranga’s Dawn Picken faces devastating development in health battle

Tauranga mother and writer Dawn Picken, who is battling the final stages of rare liver disease, has received the heartbreaking news she will not receive a liver transplant after specialists found invasive cancer in her lungs, liver and spleen.

Dawn, 52, an author, marathon runner, Bay of Plenty Times Weekend writer and columnist and former television journalist, suffers from an incurable “one-in-a-million” liver condition, Caroli disease.

She was first admitted to Tauranga Hospital in mid-October after showing signs of internal bleeding. She was later discharged but was readmitted on November 8 after her condition worsened.

Initially, a scan appeared to show a liver lobe had infarcted/died and a large portal vein clot which meant she was not suitable for a liver transplant. Doctors suggested Dawn was approaching the end of her life.

However, on December 6, after being transferred to Waipuna Hospice for palliative care, she was told an Auckland liver transplant team had reviewed her scans and wanted to assess to see if a transplant was possible.

Hopes were high when she was transferred to Auckland on Sunday for a week-long assessment.

Those hopes were dashed on Tuesday when specialists identified cancerous tumours and the spots in her lungs, the blood clotting, and what looked like areas within her spleen and liver that had died were all related to invasive cancer, cholangiocarcinoma.

It meant Dawn’s liver could not handle any cancer treatment.

“You know it’s not a good thing when the transplant team asks if they can wheel you into another room and the other room is a storage cupboard. You know you are getting bad news,” she told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend on Friday.

Mum, reporter and former television anchor Dawn Picken with her book, pictured in October. Photo / Andrew Warner

Devastated, Dawn’s first thoughts after receiving the news were for her two children, Fiona and Finley, who are the subject of a Givealittle fund set up by friends when her health deteriorated at the end of November.

“It’s been tough. We’ve talked about this ... the news that it was looming in the background. We were able to kind of push it aside and think of that hope instead and what this has done is it’s dashed any of those hopes.”

On Thursday, Dawn returned to Waipuna Hospice where “comfort measures” have been made.

From bed, she said asking for help via the Givealittle page was all she could do to “make the most of helping my kids before I go”.

“Before it seemed like more of a show of support ... now, it’s more and more real, that this is it,” she said.

“I need to know that my kids are going to be able to do what they need to do to have a roof over their heads and really, for me, completion of their studies is very important,” she said.

Dawn Picken and daughter Fiona, her "barnacle", on a special outing to the beach before her trip to Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Finn left on December 17 with his grandfather to return to the United States, where he is finishing his last year of high school.

Fiona is studying medical imaging at Unitec in Auckland but is never far from her mum’s side.

“I call her my barnacle because she’s always stuck to me,” Dawn said.

The focus was now on spending time she has with loved ones such as Fiona and also partner Stu Ede at the hospice, where Dawn enjoyed the natural surroundings and care.

Read More

• Tauranga writer Dawn Picken reflects on her life from ...
• Tauranga writer Dawn Picken to be assessed for life-saving ...
• Love, Loss and Lifelines: A year of grief on the run ...
• Dawn Picken: Learning to fly - coping with letting ...
• Dawn Picken: What I’ve learned so far from parenting ...

Since she shared her story about her initial prognosis earlier this month, messages of support from people locally and abroad have flooded her blogs and phone.

Already $20,853 has been raised on the Givealittle page.

Dawn’s message to everyone who has shown her support since her health began to deteriorate was one of love.

“Just thank you very much for always keeping us in your thoughts and concerns and never giving up on us, no matter how events turn out. We love you all. We are so proud to be part of this community.”

Journalist and former Bay of Plenty Times feature writer Dawn Picken pictured on December 2 in palliative care. Photo / Andrew Warner