Shelley's Story

At 29 years old, Shelley Bishop was down 45kg and in the best shape of her life—guiding her 60,000-strong social media community on how to do the same. They would soon become some of her greatest cheerleaders for the journey that lay ahead.

Shelley’s dramatic weight loss is likely to have saved her life—revealing a lump above her collarbone she may never have otherwise found.

Shelley’s GP wasn’t concerned about the lump above her collarbone. An ultrasound revealed nothing. Two months later after it had grown further, a needle biopsy came back inconclusive. Eventually the lump was causing so much discomfort that Shelley was scheduled to have it surgically removed.

Ten hours later, she found out she had Hodgkin Lymphoma—a blood cancer her friend and musical colleague, singer Delta Goodrem, had been diagnosed with at just 18 years old.

Age 30, Shelley had the tumour removed and endured her fourth round of chemotherapy.

The five-year survival rate of Hodgkin Lymphoma is very high, at around 85 per cent, however it also comes with a high rate of relapse, so Shelley opted to go with a round of radiation following her final chemotherapy treatment. But the side effects were debilitating.

While Shelley feels like she’s slowly returning to her former self physically, her life after cancer is very different.

"I'm so grateful that so much funding and time has already gone into science and research and developing better treatments, because that’s what enabled me to get from diagnosis, to treatment, to remission in less than a year,” she said.

“And you can only imagine that, with more support, how much further that could go.”

When you purchase your Mater Cars for Cancer ticket, you are joining the global effort to change the future of cancer diagnoses, treatment and care, while supporting those in your community receiving treatment at Mater, just like Shelley. We can’t thank you enough for your support.

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