Northland's tsunami evacuation didn't stop Hollie and Andy Welsh's wedding. Photo / Kirsty Joy Photography
Against the odds shares the stories of Northlanders whose lives were overturned by health-related bombshells, but who have continued to battle and thrive.
Hollie Welsh is making the most of the time she has left after erroneously being told not to worry about a lump in her breast.
The 33-year-old One Tree Point local’s mindset was forced to pivot in 2019 when she learned she had, at most, six months left to live.
That was eight months after a Northland DHB surgeon told Welsh the lump was benign and would vanish on its own.
“He told me I was too young for cancer and not to worry about it,” she said.
Welsh was “obviously quite relieved” with the news.
“I just went about the rest of my life waiting for it to disappear like he said it would.”
Welsh said she didn’t think too much of it, really.
“I felt fine. I had no symptoms.”
She put feelings of exhaustion down to the extra effort she was putting into her work, already having a strong work ethic.
But the lump got bigger.
Because Welsh was under 45 years of age, she hadn’t been instructed to undergo a mammogram.
“And no-one told me I could’ve paid to have a private mammogram.”
She later wished she had trusted her gut and paid for one - something she encouraged other women to do if they were concerned.
A health complication confirmed Welsh’s suspicions that something wasn’t right.
Her doctor immediately sent her to Whangārei Hospital’s emergency department.
“I was like, what the hell is going on?” she said.
There, she was fast-tracked into the breast clinic for tests.
“They told me it was cancer. I was kind of like, okay, what is the plan here?” Welsh said.
“I didn’t get really upset or anything. I was like, people get cancer - there’s lots of stuff you can do about it.”
On the list was an appointment in Auckland to begin the process of IVF treatment.
“At that point, we were okay,” Welsh said.
But less than a week later, she was called into the breast clinic and told she had Stage Four breast cancer, 10 months after first visiting her GP.
“By that time, the cancer had spread to other areas in my body,” Welsh said.
“I hadn’t had any treatment. Had I gotten in sooner, when I first went to the doctor, this probably would’ve been different.”
The former Northland District Health Board admitted the cancer would have been detected had they initially completed a biopsy.
But they were adamant their surgeon followed international guidelines for what appeared to be a benign cyst.
Welsh said because her cancer spreads so fast, she was given three to six months to live.
“I was angry about the misdiagnosis because I had asked for a biopsy but the surgeon said no, and if I’d had the biopsy, they would have been able to detect it earlier.”
Once Welsh received the Stage Four diagnosis, everything was canned, as she had to start chemotherapy four days later.
She had to stop work so she could prepare for her treatment and undergo extra tests.
The journey ahead of her meant her husband, Andy, also had to leave work so he could accompany her to all her appointments and chemotherapy.
The couple, who had been working their fingers to the bone to save for a house, now had to move out of their Waipū flat.
They needed space for Welsh’s family to stay so they could help care for her as she underwent rigorous treatment that included radiation.
“It was so much. It completely, 100 per cent, changed our lives,” she said.
“We were doing well in our careers and were working hard for our future, as well as making plans for travel and babies.”
With every day now precious, Welsh has found vigour in new perspectives.
“Before I was diagnosed, I was always like really anxious or scared about doing things that wouldn’t make me happy or having to look or act a certain way. Trying to fit in,” she said.
But now Welsh just wants to be her true self. A version where fewer things scare her.
“When you face death as many times as I have, the small things you worried about before don’t even compare.
“I’ve learned to love my life the way it is and celebrate the small achievements along the way,” she said.
And a major cause for celebration were Welsh’s 2021 nuptials, which happened to fall on the day of the large-scale tsunami evacuation.
“By that point, I had got quite a lot sicker, and was actually in North Haven Hospice the day of my wedding [...]”
Knowing time was precious, Welsh’s friend Kirsty Halliday, of Kirsty Joy Photography, organised a shotgun wedding for the pair.
Covid restrictions meant the couple had plans for a small wedding on Ruakākā beach, but the tsunami scare forced a last-minute change.
They instead tied the knot under a tree on higher ground after the land warning lifted.
“But it didn’t really matter as long as me and Andy were there,” Welsh said.
She shared how her experience has “definitely been hard”, but said she takes every day as it comes.
“In my mind, you can’t give up. You have to keep going,” Welsh said.
And the couple has been doing exactly that.
Together, they have been exploring New Zealand, and are making plans to travel again now that Covid restrictions have eased.
A feat made easier by the kindness of Bream Bay locals and others who have donated experiences to the couple.
Welsh has a skydive, glamping, and parasailing in the Bay of Islands to look forward to.
“Cancer really changes your mindset. You’ve got to live your life for right now,” she said.