3 Time Cancer Survivor
Monday, August 27, 2012
By: Crystal Conway

Im a 3 time canceer survivor being diagnosed with HD, Schwanoma, and Thyroid cancer. Very proud to say its been 30 years since I was first diagnosed and life could not be better!!!!

It was 1982, when I was 14; I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease stage 3, almost 4. I woke up one morning to go to school and noticed a lump on my neck swelled out. I really never thought too much about it, but my mother had called the Dr. for an appointment. It turned out to be HD, and I was rushed to the IWK Children’s Hospital to be formally diagnosed. I’ve had a splendectomy and bone marrow taken from my pelvic area. The lump was removed and this is how they found out what stage of HD I was. I stayed in the hospital for 6 weeks. I started my chemotherapy treatments at the hospital and went home to Sydney NS to finish the course. I then came to Halifax for 2 months to receive cobalt treatments ( now known as radiation). I lost my hair, I went down to 75 lbs, but no matter what I had to go through I was a fighter and I was going to beat this disease. Most of the days I went back and forth to the hospital for my chemotherapy treatments, I would leave at 7am and return at 10pm. I was so tired and sick, but continued the process for however long it was going to take to get better.

Then I had to go back for a checkup, 4 years later, and the Dr. found a lump underneath my right arm. I went into the hospital for a biopsy. Once the slides had been returned from Boston after 3 weeks, I was diagnosed with Schwanoma 9 Cancer of the lining of the nerve). The Dr's gave me a 50/50 chance to live or die and I decided to take the chance, so I refused all treatment. The Dr’s begged me not to make that decision but in my heart I knew it was the right thing to do. I was 18 at the time.

At age 26 I was in the hospital to give birth to my son, and when I went to leave the hospital with him my doctor found another lump in my neck. I went in for a biopsy only to find out it was Thyroid cancer, and my thyroid was full of it, so they took the whole thing out. I was in the hospital for 10 days with my bandages and released. I now take synthyroid medication for the rest of my life. I’m very proud to say I have been in remission ever since and I live my life as positive as I can be. If there is one thing I can say to all Cancer patients going through the treatments, keep your chin up, positivity is 99.9% of your cure, it worked for me.