By Brendan Rees
At the age of 36 a thyroid cancer diagnosis came “out of the blue” for a healthy Elizabeth Anderson.
The mother of two said she didn’t have any symptoms and it was only by chance she found a lump as she was applying moisturiser to her neck.
“It was a shock more than anything else,” she recalled.
It’s now been nearly 10 years but Elizabeth of Narre Warren was told the news in August that her cancer was in remission.
“It hasn’t spread, they took like muscle from my face because it had actually spread a little bit but they got all that in the first surgery,” she said.
“I had my thyroid totally removed and then I had to have two doses of radiation.
“I’m on medication every day. I’m at the Alfred every three months … still getting scans and stuff,” she said.
Elizabeth has no idea how the cancer developed as she has had no family history of the disease.
“It was totally out of the blue; I wasn’t expecting to be told that … I was probably the healthiest I had been since I had my kids,” she explained.
“I had been a smoker in the past but I had given up in 1999.
“It was even in a weird spot it wasn’t even on my thyroid, it was off set, it was somewhere up my neck … it was an odd case according to my doctors.
“It was all total chance that I found it,” she said.
Today, the 44-year-old is preparing to take part in the Walking Stars event, a fun, non-competitive walking half marathon around Melbourne on Saturday 7 December which raises funds for Cancer Council Victoria.
The 21km journey starts after sundown and takes participants on a magical starlit walk past some of Melbourne’s finest landmarks with the aim of raising $300,000 for the fight against cancer.
Elizabeth says her sister gave her the motivation to participate which she contends is “going to be tough but we’re looking forward to it”.
“I have never walked any further than the girls school – their primary school is probably 5km away”.
Anyone of any fitness may get involved. For more information visit www.walkingstars.org.au
