Cancer fuels nursing call
GEORGIA McLennan always wanted to be a nurse – but cancer had other plans.
The 25-year-old was forced to put away the books after being diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a severe disease that would have robbed her of her life if identified any later.
Regardless, it still meant months of heavy chemotherapy and countless hours in and out of hospital.
Now happy and healthy, Ms McLennan started her final year at university this week, and hopes to work in oncology, just like the compassionate nurses who looked after her in her hour of need.
“I am just excited to hopefully graduate this year and be part of a medical team. I am just very lucky,” she said.
On New Year’s Eve 2015, Ms McLennan first began to experience mysterious pains in her stomach.
By May she was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma.
“I was actually diagnosed the day I was supposed to begin my placement in the oncology ward as a nursing student. It was weird how it worked out,” she said.
“By that stage I was really tired and nauseous, and constantly falling asleep.
“I would sleep all day finding it hard to concentrate with the pain.
“Really, I was worried they weren't going to find out what was happening and I was going to spend forever not knowing.”
PET scans revealed the extent of the cancer, which had spread throughout her body.
She began treatment immediately.
During her time in hospital Ms McLennan said she got to see the other side of the medical experience.
“I learnt what it felt like to be a patient and not know what is happening,” she said.
“You are there in the scariest moment of your life so it is important people who recognise that are around you.
“I really want to be a compassionate and considerate nurse as I understand how hard things can be for people in that position.”
Ms McLennan had her last chemo treatment in August 2017. Now in recovery, she said it had taken a long time to get back into study mode.
“I found it really hard to study again. It was like I had been in survival mode for so long,” she said.
Ready to start a new placement in the field and studying for her final year, Ms McLennan successfully applied for a Redkite and Coles Dare to Dream Scholarship.
The $2000 grant will go toward her studies in nursing at Griffith University.
In the hopes of sharing her experience with those who are going through a similar situation, Ms McLennan hopes to use part of her scholarship to purchase a camera so that she can document her journey online, raise awareness of common diseases and normalise cancer.