A young woman who went to hospital with a tiny rash and minor cough broke down in tears when she was told she had cancer.
Olivia Nikolic, 20, from Melbourne, Australia, "didn’t even want to live anymore" when she was given the devastating diagnosis on Valentine's Day.
Within days she went from "having fun and enjoying life" to undergoing gruelling chemotherapy.
Her symptoms had started with a rash which appeared on her hip and then spread to her legs. But Olivia dismissed it as eczema.
“I didn’t really think anything of it. I just thought it was eczema ," she told News.com.au.
"When I got a dry cough, I just thought I had a cold. I thought that these were just normal things.”
Weeks later, she developed an intense shooting pain from her heart to her left shoulder.
The pain was so intense, she would cry and couldn't breath.
Her concerned boyfriend - now fiancé - forced her to go to hospital where she was told if she had left it two more weeks she may not be alive.
Despite thinking she just had a cold, x-rays confirmed Olivia had a tumour - stage 4 lymphoma.
“I was nothing but in disbelief that I had cancer,” she said, adding that she had no clue that anything was seriously wrong.
“I went to the hospital on February 13 for what I thought was a tiny cough, and then the next day, I got the news I had lymphoma cancer.”
A week after her shock diagnosis, Olivia began the first of her six rounds of chemotherapy, which has left her lethargic and "unable to do the things I want to," including study and save for a house.
She feels her life has been "put on hold" and the physical impacts of cancer and chemo have also been a huge struggle for her.
“I’ve lost all my hair, my eyebrows and my eyelashes. I’ve also put on weight from the chemotherapy as a result of the steroids they’ve given me,” she said.
But despite losing her confidence, she feels "lucky" her cancer is curable and has vowed to "never take anything for granted again" and live life to the fullest.
Olivia’s tumour has since shrunk by half.
After a few more sessions of chemotherapy, it’s hoped she will make a full recovery.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help towards her medical costs, to donate click here.
