I was 30 and living my best life until a scary email from the Australian immigration office led to a sinister discovery that changed everything

Rachael Murphy was 30 years old when an ominous email from the Australian immigration department upended her life.

‘You failed the chest X-ray. Immigration wants you to go and see a specialist,’ read the blunt email, dated May 2022.

The marketing executive was scared – not for her health, but because she feared she might not be able to stay in Australia.

Born and bred in the UK, the young woman had moved Down Under in 2015, fallen in love, and planned to stay.

She had completed the routine health checks which are part of the application process without second thought. After all, she was young and healthy.

In reality, she was simply overlooking the symptoms of the disease which threatened to derail her life and dreams.

‘I was more focused on what that meant for the visa than my health,’ Rachael told FEMAIL.

‘I had no idea what it could be. I’d waited so long to apply for residency – I didn’t want anything to get in the way.’

Rachael eventually saw several doctors and was diagnosed with Stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare cancer of the lymphatic system.

Looking back, she realised she had overlooked vital clues that she had the disease: unexplained fatigue, a cough and loss of appetite.

‘I remember my chest was bad – but I have asthma and it fluctuates. I thought it would sort itself out,’ she said.

‘I was also really tired, much more than usual. I honestly thought I was just having a lot of long days and needed some iron tablets or to eat better.

‘Another common symptom is loss of appetite, and looking back, I wasn’t eating much at the time. But I’m not a big eater in general, so I didn’t pick up on that either.’

Before the diagnosis, Rachael revealed she was plagued by uncertainty.

‘I was supposed to go home to the UK a few weeks after I received the email from immigration,’ she said.

‘I had to call my parents and tell them I wasn’t coming back because I failed my chest X-ray.’

Rachael’s doctor was immediately concerned and sent her for a CT scan.

‘My GP was very upfront about me not being able to fly anywhere. I think he suspected it was cancer,’ he said.

‘He told me I needed to make my health a priority and forget about everything else until it was sorted.’

That was when Rachael realised she was facing something serious.

‘I got a biopsy and had a lymph node removed. After that, I got a PET scan and I was officially diagnosed.’

However, the words ‘Hodgkin’s lymphoma’ kept coming up ever since the CT scan and the doctors said they were only testing her to confirm what they suspected.

Rachael said she didn’t want to believe it at first because she was only 30 and healthy on all accounts.

‘It was only after I looked the disease up online did I realise I had a lot of the symptoms.

‘But it was still a big shock because I don’t have a history of cancer in my family, and I never expected it would happen to me at 30. It was so overwhelming and daunting.’

Rachael made the difficult decision of getting treated in Australia away from her family.

‘Before anything, I went through a round of IVF and froze my eggs. Chemotherapy affects your fertility and I couldn’t imagine not having children in the future.

‘After that, I went through 15 weeks of chemo and radiation.’ 

Rachael revealed that chemo was hard on her body during the first round and she ended up in the emergency room twice, including a five-night in-patient stay.

‘I couldn’t eat, I had terrible nausea, and a burning sensation in my mouth. I felt like my saliva was acidic and on fire.’

Because her reaction to the chemotherapy was unusual, her haematologist administered a white blood cell injection to manage her symptoms and she was able to carry on with a somewhat normal routine.  

While her body didn’t cope well initially, the rest of her treatment went relatively smoothly.

Rachael’s partner Mick was her rock throughout the ordeal. She said she would not have made it through the treatment without him and her supportive friends.

‘I’m not usually an anxious person, but I went through a lot after I was diagnosed. I had frequent panic attacks.

‘All my hair fell out. I never realised what a big part of my identity it was. I found it difficult to leave the house if I didn’t have my wig on. 

‘I’d look in a mirror and wouldn’t recognise myself at all.’

Still, Rachael did everything she could to preserve a sense of normalcy. She got her eyebrows tattooed on and came up with a ritual to ground her whenever she felt overwhelmed.

She would go on walks with Mick every time her mind went into overdrive – even in the middle of the night. She was also prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

Almost four months after she started chemotherapy, Rachael went for another PET scan to see if treatment had worked.

Her doctors were happy with the results and revealed there were no traces of cancer on the scans.

Rachael had to go back for blood tests every three months during her first year – and was officially declared to be in remission.

Despite that, her anxiety often rears its head in unexpected times.

‘Sometimes I started to worry the cancer was back. A lot of little things used to plant a seed of doubt in my head.

‘I’m very grateful that Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most curable cancers. My doctor recently told me that it was 90 per cent likely the cancer would never come back – and I just have to sit with that number sometimes. It’s unbelievable.’

Rachael is sharing her story as the face of Australian Cancer Research Foundation’s 2km a Day in May challenge, raising money for cancer research.

She said it’s important to raise awareness about the illness and support organisations that support cancer research.

The ACRF helped with the initial funding for Professor Ian Frazer and virologist Jian Zhou who went on to invent the cervical cancer vaccine.