Mum given months to live
‘If something doesn’t feel right, get a second opinion’
After nearly a year of being turned away from her GP, a Christchurch woman now has months to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Hayley Beaumont is just 31 and a mother and is now urging other people to follow their instinct and get a second opinion.
“If something doesn’t feel right with your body, push to get more tests done, and get a second opinion,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Chris Lynch.
In January 2019 she first experienced massive amounts of bleeding and went to her new doctor. Her GP had quit four months earlier.
“I was getting tennis ball-sized blood clots.”
But Beaumont was told she was too fit, young and healthy to have anything seriously wrong.
Just 11 months later, on New Year’s Eve, she was admitted to Christchurch Women’s Hospital with kidney failure.
“I’d only just woken up from a procedure, and the surgeon came in and said he needed to talk to me,” Beaumont told Lynch.
“My dad started crying because he knew it was going to be bad news.”
The surgeon said, “I’m sorry it’s cancer, and it’s very far progressed.”
The solo mum was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer.
“I didn’t know how to react, because my dad was there and had broken down. I was trying to be strong for him really.
“My first thoughts went to my daughter, wondering how she would cope with the news.”
Beaumont said she had been to her doctor many times in the 11 months and each time she was brushed off, despite her symptoms worsening.
Everything came to a head on Boxing Day, when she ended up in hospital.
“I had been getting bad headaches and felt that something wasn’t right.”
Doctors initially thought her symptoms were isolated to her kidneys or high blood pressure.
After explaining the situation to staff at the gynaecological ward, at Christchurch Women’s, a complaint was made on her behalf to the Health and Disability Commissioner. The investigation is ongoing, she said.
Her top priority is her 11-year-old daughter Abbey. Beaumont had been working as a preschool reliever, but she’s had to give that up.
She’s now on pain medication and finished her second round of intensive chemotherapy this month.
She’s exhausted from the treatment, which she hopes will prolong her life. But there are side effects — numb fingers, weak leg muscles, and more recently, hair loss.
Beaumont was given between six months and two years to live. She says after her third chemotherapy treatment, doctors would be able to decide if it was worth continuing.
A Givealittle page has been set up for Hayley and her family, but what’s most important is getting her message out to the public.