Help Grace through the Struggles of Cancer

Hi my name is Grace, and I have recently been diagnosed with leukaemia.

Just a few weeks ago, I was living the life of a typical 16-year-old girl balancing schoolwork in Grade 11, playing netball, laughing with my friends and working in my first job to save up. Everything felt normal, until suddenly it wasn’t. What started as what I thought was a simple cold with symptoms like a sharp pains in my lower abdomen, fever, dizziness, fatigue and very achy. This quickly spiraled into something far more serious. After rushing to the emergency department with unbearable pain in my lower abdomen, nausea, and a fever, doctors discovered a 20 cm cancerous tumour on my right ovary. Within days, I was in surgery to remove both the tumour and my right ovary and requiring 3 blood transfusions post surgery.

Before the surgery, I only thought the tumour was cancerous, but then I got told the devastating news that I have B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and it was in fact not just only the tumour, it was all throughout my body. Suddenly Lumbar puncture, pet scan, bone marrow aspiration and MRI scans are some of the tests I’ve never heard before become something I just had to put up with. What I also am having to put up with is putting a hold on obviously school, but things I love to do like hanging out with friends, going to concerts and going to the beach. These are just some of the things that has changed. This has been a sudden, frightening, and life, changing experience. Something I never imagined would happen to a healthy and active teenage girl like me. Since then, my world has turned upside down.

Even the simplest things I once took for granted, like walking outside, now feels out of reach. After having to learn to take those first steps again after surgery, I knew it will be a long and difficult road coming. The thought of standing on my own two feet after surgery felt both overwhelming and motivating, and I hold onto the hope that every step forward will bring me closer to healing. Now, I’m preparing to start chemotherapy. It’s frightening, and some days feel unbearably heavy, but I am determined to stay strong and fight with everything I have.

This journey has also placed an incredible strain on my family. Your support, whether big or small, will go towards helping us through the financial struggles, as well as supporting cancer research so that others like me can have hope.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading my story, for caring, and for standing beside me in this fight. Your kindness means more than words can ever say.