Hayley was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 26 and went onto bear cancer

At Zing Wellbeing we are passionate about women's health and about supporting to women to the best health possible.

And we love to share inspirational women's health stories.

And today we have an incredible story from Hayley who was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 26.

Hayley's  stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma story

I was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 26.

It was quite the shock as you would imagine. I had a 10cm x 14cm mass in my chest that had collapsed my left lung.

I was at the healthiest I had ever been in my life. We had moved to Queenstown during covid so everyday I was still hiking and training enjoying our stunning surroundings.

Doctors and professionals in New Zealand put it down to stress and anxiety. I had many obvious symptoms but no one could quite put their finger on what was going on. 

Fast forward a year I moved to Australia and within months I was diagnosed.

I was sent for a biopsy and X-rays then when I went back in my doctor said I’m an very certain it is Hodgkin’s lymphoma but let’s go get a CT scan and go from there.

Within the hour I had the CT scan then that same night my doctor called me at 6pm and said go to ED tonight you need to be admitted.

We headed into ED and many many hours later I was admitted. Over the following few days we did many scans.

The pain few were the PET scan where they show your active cancer which is the dark blobs in the scan plus I did a bone marrow biopsy which as you could imagine painful as anything.

This was to ensure the cancer hadn’t spread into the bone marrow. Once all the scans were done I finally got to go home. I had already quit my job prior to this as we knew something was really wrong. 

My oncologist booked me to sit down and discuss our options and give me a profile diagnosis which was the stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

I underwent 6 months chemotherapy which destroyed my body and filled me with toxins.

My sessions involved going into hospital once a fortnight and spending anywhere from 6-9 hours in the chair having my chemotherapy.

I was so unhealthy from the chemo I could barely complete a walk around the block anymore. The side effects along every week were just unreal.

I only got to spend 1-3 days each fortnight feeling ok and being able to eat enjoyably. 

As soon as I was diagnosed I asked the family if I could get a support dog to help me on my journey and of course they said yes.

Within 48 hours of looking we had Hodge in arms. We named him Hodge after cancer as his job was to be my right hand man and he did just that. He was there to cuddle me when I needed and lick those tears of pain away. 

I had to re start my health journey from the ground up. Every walk I took slowly got longer and longer which having hodge helped so much.

One thing mum ALWAYS made sure I had, was my jam packed protein smoothie everyday as eating was really hard so we put everything into that smoothie that we could to ensure I was getting my daily nutrients in. 

My mission ever since has been to really focus in on healthy eating, daily exercise and overall well-being.

3 years on and my health program with Zing Wellbeing

Every goal I reach is just a reminder of how far I’ve come. I am now 3 years in remission which is incredible and a huge achievement but I recently had a scare which sent me a few steps backwards so I’m now using the Zing Wellbeing Program to get myself and my health back on track.

The community that comes with the Zing Wellbeing program is just so amazing! Everyone is so supportive and helpful. 

All I can say is no matter how tough life gets you forever need to look after your well-being first. Just remember you can do it and I can highly recommend the Zing Wellbeing program

I also just celebrated with a tattoo of Hodge on my arm as he has been my rock