PORT Macquarie woman Vicki Sandiford knew the extreme pain she was feeling was more than the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
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For three years Vicki was treated for what she thought was a chronic inflammatory disorder, but deep down knew something more sinister was going on.
She pushed for more tests, but it took a trip to Maitland and a fourth opinion to get a result. Unfortunately, that result was a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin stage four lymphoma.
“We have no idea how long I’ve had it for. I was going backwards and forwards to specialists for three years because I was in excruciating pain,” she said.
“I had a lot of tests but no-one tested me for cancer. It was my idea to go out of town where I saw a neurologist, who discovered the cancer.
“I was relieved that I got some kind of diagnosis, but I was cranky.”
That frustration came from spending thousands of dollars on medications and tests and the impact her condition was having on her normal daily life.
“I’ve basically had no life for three years,” she said. “Since being diagnosed, everything has changed. You look outside and appreciate the sky and the blue water more than I did.”
Having worked in retail for 31 years, she now cares for her ill mother and is the primary caregiver to her teenage son.
She said raising awareness and warning people to “trust their own body” was vital.
I really want to share my story and if I can save just one life or prevent this from happening to just one person then my job is done.
- Vicki Sandiford
“I really want to share my story and if I can save just one life or prevent this from happening to just one person then my job is done,” she said.
“If you get a second opinion and get nowhere, then go and get a third, fourth, fifth and six. If I didn’t go out of my way to see somebody else, I think I’d be in a box by now. And that’s scary.
“No matter what, no matter how much it costs, and it’s costs me around $6,000 in appointments, you have to go and get answers. It’s given me more fight to get up and go, and just prove a point.”
Vicki will have scans at the end of August to determine if she is in remission.
She has endured 18 bouts of chemotherapy, three blood transfusions, one platelet transfusion, a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, had to return for a one-off chemotherapy session to prevent the cancer going to her brain and 20 sessions of radiation.
“I’d like to thank my workplace Big W, Indulgence Hairdressers and Hastings Secondary College for fundraising, as well as friends for being there.”