Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock raises funds for ‘life-changing’ lymphedema surgery

A Thursday Island nurse may be forced to retire for medical reasons after a lifesaving treatment that helped cure her breast cancer left her with devastating side effects.

Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock contracted lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes limb swelling and disrupts normal bodily functions, as a side effect from life-saving cancer treatment. Picture: Supplied

A Thursday Island nurse may be forced to retire for medical reasons after a life-saving treatment that helped cure her breast cancer left her with devastating side effects.

Registered nurse Melissa Haydock was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 while working in Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.

“At the end of 2022, I was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer and a couple of tumours had spread into my lymph nodes,” Ms Haydock said.

“Basically, I was told if I didn’t have treatment, I would be deceased within months to very short years, so I had to have extensive chemotherapy which knocked me out for about six months.”

Ms Haydock received 25 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, keeping her out of the workforce for almost two years.

Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock contracted lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes limb swelling and disrupts normal bodily functions, as a side effect from life-saving cancer treatment. Picture: Supplied

As a result of the treatment, Ms Haydock developed lymphedema, a chronic condition where tissue swelling is caused by an accumulation of protein-rich fluid, usually drained through the body’s lymphatic system.

“There’s a lot of aspects of (treatment), but the main thing is to wear compression garments day to day, and you wanna have it on for at least 12 hours when you’re awake,” she said.

“But working as a nurse, those garments are an infection control risk so I’m not allowed to wear them, which means I can choose to not nurse and not wear the garments and risk my health.”

Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock has started a GoFundMe page to help cover medical expenses as she travels to Sydney for specialist surgery to help alleviate the effects of lymphedema. Picture: Supplied

A passionate advocate for Indigenous health in remote communities, Ms Haydock said looking after her patients was her priority.

“It’s not a choice, I come to work. What else can I do?” she said.

“I love living here and looking after my patients – I specifically came to an Indigenous community to work alongside them and to help as much as I possibly can to see the health improved within these people.”

Despite working 10-hour shifts at the hospital, Ms Haydock said she did her best to look after her arm outside of work hours, including getting up early in the morning to wear a compression garment before her shifts.

Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock contracted lymphedema, a chronic condition that causes limb swelling and disrupts normal bodily functions, as a side effect from life-saving cancer treatment. The most effective treatment method is wearing compression garments and undergoing surgery. Picture: Supplied

“I come to work every day and just do what I have to do outside of work to help my arm as best as I can,” she said.

However there is a final line of treatment for the condition, two specialist surgeries, unavailable through the public health system, in Sydney.

“I’m having two surgeries done at the one time – one is a lymph node transfer and the other is a lymphedema bypass,” she said.

“If it is as successful as I’m anticipating, it will not cure the lymphedema as it cannot be cured, but it is going to allow me to safely be at work and not wear my garments.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover medical expenses.

Originally published as Thursday Island nurse Melissa Haydock raises funds for ‘life-changing’ lymphedema surgery