Sportswoman Hayley Richmond’s battle with Hodgkin lymphoma
When star sportswoman Hayley Richmond felt a lump while fiddling with her necklace, the 33-year-old found herself in a race to not only save her life but also the chance to become a mum.
Rockhampton
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In her life as an accomplished athlete, Hayley Richmond had endured many a hard knock, sprain and scrape but it was the simplest of sweeping hand motions that brought her life undone.
Fresh from playing season openers with the Wanderers A1 women’s hockey and Rockhampton Panthers women’s Aussie rules teams, it was a lump discovered while “fiddling” with her necklace as she drove home from footy practice the night of March 23 that puzzled the seemingly fit and well 33-year-old.
“I thought ‘I’ve never felt that before and it’s quite large’,” she said in an exclusive interview for the weekend Courier Mail and Rockhampton Morning Bulletin.
“It just popped up, it was there all of a sudden. There was no pain and no bruising around it.
“I actually called my coach and asked him if I’d got a hit that I couldn’t remember.”
Hayley contacted her regular GP but the first available appointment was weeks away.
It was a chance encounter at a friend’s hairdressing salon that prompted her to take more urgent action.
“I was discussing it with my friend and I was sitting next to a nurse who encouraged me to get in within the next business day to get it checked out,” Hayley said.
She managed to get an appointment with another doctor, who organised blood tests and a CT scan that same day.
Hayley, married for seven years to Luke and then a proud new homeowner, said she was “thinking the worst”.
“I was pretty concerned from the appointment … and when the doctor’s office rang me in the morning when I was due to get the results and asked me to come in earlier, I was pretty certain it was not going to be good news,” she said.
“She showed me the scans and we could see about eight masses across my chest.
“She said to me: ‘You’ve got cancer, we just don’t know what kind it is, we’ve got to wait for a biopsy’.”
In the meantime, Hayley had reached out to a specialist in Brisbane, forwarding her photos and all the information she had available.
“I said this is what I know, I can’t get a diagnosis, I can’t get a referral to a haematologist because I don’t have a diagnosis,” Hayley said.
“She said ‘get on a plane on Monday and be prepared to stay in Brisbane for 10 days and we’ll do all the biopsies and scans to get you your diagnosis’.”
On Easter Monday, the Richmonds flew to Brisbane, where Hayley had a PET scan, another biopsy and more blood tests which confirmed Hodgkin lymphoma.
The diagnosis was made all the more harrowing by the revelation the treatment could impact her ability to conceive naturally.
Hayley and Luke knew they wanted a family and decided to store some of Hayley’s embryos.
Fortunately, the cancer was only stage two which gave her some breathing room, but she did not know if more aggressive treatment would be needed moving forward which could further impact her chances of falling pregnant.
“As soon as you get your diagnosis, everything starts to rush and it’s full steam ahead,” Hayley said.
“The specialist allowed me to defer treatment for a fortnight and we did 10 days of IVF.
“I went for the egg retrieval surgery on a Thursday and was in the chemo chair on Friday morning.
“I just wanted to know that I had done everything possible to give us the best chance of starting a family at the end of all this.”
Comfortable knowing they had that “insurance” in place, Hayley started a four-month course of chemotherapy.
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Hayley’s can-do approach and positive attitude impressed medical staff.
“I’m one of those people who you give me a problem and I start planning a solution,” she said.
Not that it was all smooth sailing.
“It was like a fortnightly cycle. There would be one week where I was in bed all week but the other week was great. I was still getting up and running 5km, 7km, 10km in the mornings,” Hayley said.
“The specialist told me at one point that I needed to slow down a bit.”
Meanwhile, good friends from both of her clubs were not only providing emotional support.
Laura Jonassen and Amy Mill from Panthers and Aaron Harmsworth and Demi Fraser from Wanderers devised a plan to help in the most practical way – raising much-needed funds for Hayley and Luke.
The couple’s respective employers were understanding and flexible but the medical bills were mounting.
“Even to get a diagnosis was thousands of dollars,” Hayley said.
“To be off work, and we’d just bought a new house, it was all very daunting to start with.”
Hayley said when Laura came to her with the idea of a fundraiser, she envisaged some money boards at the clubs’ home games.
What eventuated was a multi-draw raffle which raised more than $20,000.
Hayley describes herself as a “very independent, private person”, not one to ask for help.
But when she was going through one of the most challenging times of her life, that changed.
“I read all these books that said you need to humble yourself; people are going to offer you help so take it,” she said.
“What they managed to achieve was just mind-blowing.
“All of them have families, full-time jobs and a number of other priorities.
“What they did and the time they dedicated to it is testament to the people they are. Everything they do, they do with love, and that really shone through and it meant so much to me.“
Hayley is now in remission after the April 18 diagnosis that came out of the blue.
‘Sport is such a huge part of my life’: Goal that burned bright through treatment
Hayley always had in mind the prospect of returning to sport this year.
It was a goal that buoyed and inspired her through her treatment and thoughts of those she played with helped fuel her recovery.
Hayley said she was also so fortunate to have all of her treatment done in her home town – at the Mater Private Hospital oncology ward and the Monash IVF Rockhampton clinic.
“We’re blessed to have those services here, and to also have my specialist travelling here fortnightly,” she said.
“I could not have asked for a better medical team, everyone was going above and beyond and making me feel so safe and cared for.”
Hayley, with consent from her specialist, also realised her dream of getting back on the field.
She played the Aussie rules final on September 2, being named best on ground, and the following week the A-grade women’s hockey decider.
Both her teams were beaten but Hayley felt far from defeated.
“Sport is such a huge part of my life and so are the people involved in it,” she said.
“It was a huge accomplishment just to be playing.
“After everything those clubs did for me, I was so happy to be back with them and working hard where I could.
“It meant so much just to be there.”
Hayley said while it might sound a little clichéd, her experience had changed her outlook on life.
“I think that quite often you’re not fortunate enough to realise how you have impacted other people’s lives,” she said.
“You don’t know how they feel about you, the changes you make to their lives, the friendships you have and how those friends value you.
“They turned something that should have been a really awful experience into something really positive.
“It impacted me in a way I never thought possible. The outpouring of love and support was something I never expected and thought that I deserved so it’s really changed my perspective and I’m so grateful for that.”
WARNING SIGNS
- Painless swelling in the neck, armpit or groin
- Excessive sweating, especially at night
- Unexplained fatigue
- Itching
- Shortness of breath
- Unexplained cough
- Fever
- Unexplained weight loss. *Source: Cancer Council
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