Imagine you’re 20 years old, fit and healthy. You go to your GP for the 10th time to find out why your cold won’t go away, and after several tests and an X-ray are told you have a disease you’ve never heard of – Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
You’re uneasy because the doctor looks worried, but you don’t know what Hodgkin’s lymphoma is. After the appointment, you Google it.
“Oh f*#k. That’s cancer.”
Shelly Rankin is now 21 and cancer-free. She was diagnosed almost exactly a year ago, at Easter 2021.
Six rounds of chemotherapy and six months later, Shelly’s treatments had been successful, the tumour was gone and she was in remission. Blood tests and other scans have shown no evidence of the disease. She has six-monthly check-ups and monitors for symptoms, but as far as she knows is cancer-free.
When Shelly found Bloomhill Cancer Care and came to the wellness centre in Buderim, she felt relief that there were people who “just got it”.
At Bloomhill, it was normal to feel the shock she was still in, to experience trauma from the treatments, and feel alienated as she watched her friends go to uni while she felt stuck in mud, taking one step at a time and hoping she would get through.
“What’s helped me is having a community who understand,” Shelly said.
“Even if they’re not your age or your cancer, people get it. You just talk to people and keep in touch, find like-minded people. We’re all a lot more mature than others our age. Nobody else really gets it.”
Bloomhill Cancer Care is launching its Greatest Need Appeal, celebrating 25 years providing personalised support to those touched by cancer.
“We’re delighted to launch our Greatest Need Appeal, which will run throughout the month of April. This month, please join with us as we begin celebrating Bloomhill Cancer Care’s incredible 25-year legacy,” chief executive officer Christopher John said.
“The Greatest Need Fund is for individuals or organisations who want to give, but want their dollars to go toward the most urgent shortfalls, across any area of the organisation, from nurse wages to paying the main operating expenses.
“We are a community-based organisation and receive no ongoing government funding. Almost 100 per cent of our funding comes from our entrepreneurial endeavours and community donations, which allows us to provide dedicated care services for those touched by cancer.
“Over the past year, we have supported more than 1400 people and provide more than 7120 occasions of nursing, allied health care and wellness activities each year at our wellness centre in Buderim.”
