Kirstie Fitzpatrick was just aged 19 when she got the devastating diagnosis. Photo / Instagram
Kirstie Fitzpatrick was just aged 19 when she got the devastating diagnosis. Photo / Instagram
An Australian news presenter has shared details of her terrifying battle with an aggressive form of cancer.
The young presenter, Kirstie Fitzpatrick, was 19 when she was first diagnosed with cancer. Speaking to 7Life she said she noticed a bump form on her elbow overnight that quickly grew in size.
Making the decision to get it removed for “cosmetic reasons” with doctors assuring her she had nothing to worry about, Fitzpatrick later found out it was only the start of her frightening health battle.
Having just moved to Sydney from her home town of Orange, to start university, the now 27-year-old said she received an early morning phone call from her doctor which changed her whole life.
Noting the thought the call was “strange” she said, “Suddenly she began throwing out words such as ‘aggressive’, ‘abnormal’ and ‘unusual’.
An Australian presenter’s life turned upside down when she was diagnosed with a highly aggressive cancer that baffled doctors. Photo / Instagram
“Then she said the word ‘cancer’ and that was the first time I ever heard my name and the word cancer in the same sentence — at 19. It was very, very scary.”
But things became a lot scarier for the teen when she was told the cancer was an extremely rare form that couldn’t be categorised.
“It’s that sense of the unknown, just having no idea what this meant. What this was going to do for my life. What this meant for me,” she told the Australian news outlet. “I was definitely frightened.”
Following the call, Fitzpatrick knew she had to say goodbye to university - at least for the near future - and returned to her home town where she started treatment for melanoma.
With pathologists unable to identify what type of melanoma she had, the news presenter’s case was passed onto the head of pathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and resulted in her travelling back and forth for treatment.
The young woman said she underwent “quite invasive and major surgery” that saw doctors remove lymph nodes and cancerous cells in the surrounding area of the melanoma and thankfully, was told she would likely make a full recovery as her cancer was localised.
However, it has kept Fitzpatrick on high alert and she has had a further two surgeries and frequent skin checks that have found 15 to 20 lesions, moles and bumps.
“It has been, and still is, a big part of my life,” she said, adding that she has questions over the cause of her cancer as she never tanned without sunscreen growing up and has no family history of cancer.
Doctors have been unable to give her further insight and remain unsure of the cause.
Despite this, she has had a lucky escape from the disease and has warned others to check their skin regularly.
“Anything that might be sore, scaly, bleeding, tender, changing in shape, size or colour. Is it abnormal? Does it feel different?”
“If you do notice something that’s different, find an accredited skin cancer professional so they can do a full body skin check and make sure there’s nothing of concern.”
