When Shelley was diagnosed with cancer, Delta Goodrem was the first person she contacted
When Shelley Bishop was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year, the first person she contacted was her friend Delta Goodrem, who was treated for blood cancer as a teenager.
With no history of cancer in her family, Ms Bishop sought the advice of someone with life experience with the disease to calm her fears.
“For me, it was the unknown, it was very scary,” Bishop said.
“I panicked for the first few weeks when I was diagnosed. I panicked.
“Delta is basically just saying: ‘This is really scary, but there’s nothing you can’t afford. You just have to take one small step every day to get stronger and listen to your body. Take your time and rest when you need to. Don’t try and push yourself too hard.’
Bishop and the pop star were texting ahead of Goodrem’s current tour of the US, with Ms Bishop telling a friend to draw strength from a song, Keep Climbing, on her latest album.
“It’s just about taking it one day at a time, just keep going, don’t give up,” Bishop said.
Load
Bishop, who plays the saxophone, first met and formed a friendship with Goodrem, 37, about six years ago when the celebrity singer-songwriter was laying down a song at a prominent Sydney recording studio.
Ms Bishop works as a studio manager.
‘My whole world is completely upside down’
The 30-year-old moved back to Brisbane at the start of the COVID pandemic and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in late March after first noticing the lump “above my collarbone” in August last year.
“I’m totally in tune with my body,” she says.
“I know when something isn’t right. I’m a little more rundown than usual.”
The ultrasound ordered by his doctor failed to identify the cancer.
She returned to her doctor in December when the lump continued to grow, but further tests proved “inconclusive”.
“It just started to get really, really painful and then it swelled to the size of a walnut,” Bishop said.
Pathology tests on the tumor after it was removed in March this year identified it as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which most commonly develops in people between the ages of 15 and 30 and in those over 70.
Around 780 cases are diagnosed in Australia each year.
“My whole world was completely turned upside down,” Bishop said.
Scans at Mater Private Hospital in South Brisbane identified another mass around his heart and lungs.
Cancer has a good ‘cure’ rate
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that affects the lymphatic system, the part of the immune system that fights germs.
This disease causes white blood cells, called lymphocytes, to grow out of control, resulting in swollen lymph nodes and growths throughout the body.
His hematologist, Raymond Banh, said although the cancer had a good “cure” rate – five-year survival of about 85 percent and higher if diagnosed at an early stage – aggressive treatment in the past led to decreased fertility and other complications later in life. life.
“We’re talking about lung fibrosis, the effect on the thyroid … the risk of breast cancer, especially in younger women, and … the risk of heart attack,” said Dr Banh.
But he says careful research has allowed cancer specialists to cut the amount of chemotherapy and radiotherapy than was given a decade ago, reducing the chance of complications, but maintaining survival rates.
“Fertility rates have increased, secondary cancers have improved, we’re not blasting people with large amounts of radiotherapy to cause future problems,” Dr Banh said.
“We tell patients this is the type of cancer you want if you have cancer. The cure rate is high – around 98 percent in some cases.
“Shelley was diagnosed early, she was very lucky.”
Bishop underwent four chemotherapy infusions over the course of two weeks. After a two-week break, he then underwent 10 sessions of radiotherapy, completing his treatment about three months after his diagnosis.
‘It’s scary’ to lose her hair
When her hair started falling out, she shaved it herself and donated it to charity to make wigs for children with cancer and alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
“I have the most beautiful, stunning, long, beautiful brown hair,” Bishop said.
“But it feels great to do something positive for someone at the worst time of my life. Honestly it’s very rewarding.
“Mentally, doing that was really important because it turned something I was really afraid of into something really positive, and I helped other people in the process.”
Ms Bishop decided not to freeze some of her eggs before her treatment.
“I just wanted to move on with chemotherapy and see myself on the other side,” she said.
“I never really wanted kids. I have a nephew and it keeps me busy.
“At that time, my priority was to get healthy again and get rid of the cancer, so I said: ‘Let’s start the treatment right away.'”
Ms Bishop’s last scan showed no active cancer.
He will continue to have regular meetings with Dr Banh to ensure that he stays that way.
His goal is to return to work in the entertainment industry but for now, he is facing life with a different mindset.
“Before, I was very pedantic … and stressed myself on the smallest things. Those things really don’t bother me anymore.”
Once she overcomes the fatigue that lingers after her treatment, Ms Bishop hopes to attract her contacts in the entertainment and music industry to organize a charity concert to raise money for blood cancer research.
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