Smiling after health scare
After a lump on her throat grew for about a year, mother-of-five Michelle McPherson couldn't put off medical attention any longer
MICHELLE McPherson pulled her black cardigan across her throat self-consciously as we spoke.
"I usually wear a scarf,” she said.
The move was an attempt to cover a long, deep purple scar along the base of her neck.
Mrs McPherson was in the process of answering a street poll about women's health and, in light of her recent experience, she didn't have to think twice about her top tip.
She told me five weeks earlier she had half her thyroid removed after letting a lump in her throat grow for about a year.
Watching her weight slowly start to creep up, she had an inclination her thyroid was the cause of the problem.
A key part of the endocrine system, the thyroid affects the role of hormones in the body.
"It wasn't functioning, it just blocks up and progressively gets bigger,” she said.
"The more I was exercising, the more I couldn't shift the weight.”
The "c-word” popped into her head more than once and doctors said she was too young to let the lump progress any further.
Mrs McPherson underwent scans and had dye passed through her system before having surgery.
"It wasn't until I had it removed and had tests to say it was cancer-free,” she said.
The health scare came at a busy time for the McPherson family which was in the process of relocating from Brisbane to Killarney when the surgery took place.
They were selling their home and buying a new one for their family of seven.
Rather than being concerned about the physical impact of the condition, Mrs McPherson was most worried about how being out of action would affect those around her.
"It felt like it was a bit of a burden on the family for a while,” she said.
"As a woman, mother and wife that's where it gets to you, when you feel like you're not doing as much as you should be.”
Mrs McPherson is still waiting for her hormones to settle back down after the surgery but is otherwise feeling well.
When it came time to share her health tip, she urged others not to put their own wellbeing on the back-burner.
"To take that time out and get yourself checked, it's for your own peace of mind as well,” she said.
"It was a bit of a wake-up call for me to see the doctor more often.”
