Mission to spread awareness Alisha wins cancer fight
A COURAGEOUS young woman is standing proud and putting a face to cancer following a grim diagnosis at only 27 years old.
Alisha Thomson was charging her way through life as a career-driven doctor when it all came to a halt in 2016 when she was delivered a shock diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer.
“I’d been called back to the doctor’s office so I knew I was going to get bad news but it was still quite a shock to hear that it was cancer and that it was all through my body,” Ms Thomson said.
“It was in my breasts and under my arms, I had fluid on my lungs and then quite a bit of disease in my abdomen and yeah it was ovarian cancer.”
Ms Thomson said doctors had considered the disease was too aggressive to operate at that time and chemotherapy was her best chance at survival.
“I had to go off work immediately and pretty much started treatment straight away, I had quite a long course of chemotherapy from December 2016 to April 2017.
“At that point they finally agreed to operate down in Brisbane then came back and had more chemotherapy but you can’t stay on that forever.”
Ms Thomson returned to work while still battling cancer on a hormone treatment that kept her stable until mid 2018 when scans showed cancer had spread to her heart.
After another round of chemotherapy, Ms Thomson defied all medical odds in April when a routine scan showed she was clear of all cancer.
Ms Thomson has come to terms with never having her own children and is acutely aware that there is a high chance of her cancer returning but despite all odds she said life was better than ever.
“I was really career driven and working long hours but now I don’t get bogged down on the little things and just have fun, if a friend calls and wants to have coffee I’m there straight away,” she said.
The ordeal has sparked a determination to raise awareness for the disease.
Ms Thomson has joined the Cancer Council Queensland as “the face” of Relay for Life – a 24-hour walking event to be held in Townsville this weekend.
“I want to get the message out there to more people about ovarian cancer,” she said. “Don’t ignore your body and go and see your GP.”
For more information on how to donate, visit cancer. org.au.