Melyssa’s story

Melyssa discovered a lump in her breast at the dinner table one night. 

Melyssa had already had thyroid cancer, which meant when she called the doctor the next day, she got an appointment that afternoon, in Deniliquin which is 30kms away. Then Melyssa had the mammogram, ultrasound and a biopsy all in Shepparton. Melyssa was told that she had breast cancer right before Xmas – an aggressive type of breast cancer. She would need to have surgery on December 29, 2023, and then start chemo. The only good thing was that Melyssa was “totally spoiled on Christmas day”.  

Melyssa was told that the cancer hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes and that she was cancer free – just needed to have chemo. But then Melyssa was told that she had cancer in her bones. Melyssa underwent 16 rounds of chemo for the breast cancer (in either Bendigo or Echuca) and then 3 weeks of radiation – every day traveling to Shepparton (round trip of 340km). In total Melyssa has traveled 11,000 km for either diagnosis or treatment – traveling to either Echuca, Bendigo or Shepparton. 

Melyssa has been unable to work since her diagnosis. Can Assist assisted Melyssa with fuel vouchers to ensure that she could get to her treatment appointments, and covered some of the costs of her scans, and other medical bills. 

Melyssa may appear to her friends and to her community as a strong person “but I’m not as strong as people think. And it (cancer) is horrible. It’s very scary.” Being the president of the local football club, when diagnosed with cancer, seemed daunting. But it kept Melyssa upbeat, kept her going, having something else to focus on. And the support and encouragement that Melyssa received from Can Assist “has meant the world to me. Thank you for everything.”