NEED TO KNOW
- Rockhampton mum Alysia North was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma when her first son, Theo, was just seven months old.
- Doctors urged immediate chemotherapy, warning there wasn’t enough time for fertility preservation before treatment.
- After being told she had “next to no chance” of conceiving naturally, Alysia was stunned to discover she was pregnant.
- Now cancer-free, Alysia is sharing her story to encourage others to trust their instincts and never lose hope.
Rockhampton mum Alysia North holds her two sons, four-year-old Theo and one-year-old Charlie, close.
While the boys are blissfully unaware why Mummy’s hugs are so tight, Alysia, 32, is delighting in every moment with them, knowing things could have turned out so differently.
“My boys are my whole world. I’m just so grateful to be here watching them grow up,” Alysia tells New Idea.
In 2022, when Theo was just seven months old, Alysia’s life was turned upside down after noticing her neck and shoulders were unusually sore.
“Rubbing the area I felt this huge lump near my collarbone,” she says.
Working as a radiographer, she knew she needed to get it checked, and she was right to be worried.
In an urgent CT scan, doctors found multiple enlarged lymph nodes in her neck and chest and within days, a biopsy and surgery to remove one of them confirmed the worst news.
“They told me I had stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” Alysia says. It’s a type of blood cancer that had spread to two or more groups of lymph nodes in her neck and chest.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got a little baby. This can’t be happening.’”
Instead of enjoying motherhood, Alysia suddenly found herself wondering whether she’d live long enough to watch her little boy grow up.
While doctors were optimistic, time was of the essence. As each day passed, Alysia’s chances of survival lessened.
They urged Alysia to begin chemotherapy immediately, but the aggressive treatment came with heartbreaking consequences.
Because treatment couldn’t be delayed, there wasn’t enough time to undergo fertility preservation. It meant her dream of a sibling for Theo was highly unlikely.
“We’d always wanted more than one child,” Alysia says. “But my priority was staying alive for Theo.”
In October 2022, Alysia began six months of chemotherapy. Alongside constant nausea and exhaustion, she endured agonising bone pain.
“It honestly felt like my bones were on fire,” she says.
Unable to lift her baby, Alysia relied heavily on her husband Alex, 31, and her mum while she fought for her life.
“I kept reminding myself I had to get through this for Theo,” she says.
By early 2023, things started to look up, with Alysia’s scans revealing there was no evidence of active disease.
Overjoyed to be cancer-free, Alysia gradually came to terms with the fact Theo would never have a brother or sister.
“We felt grateful to have each other,” she says. “That became enough.”
Then, around 18 months later, her body began behaving strangely, experiencing very irregular and light periods, hot flushes, lethargy and mood swings.
Alysia assumed, as she’d been warned, the chemotherapy had triggered early menopause and put the symptoms down to that but, after Alex suggested taking a pregnancy test, just to rule it out, she was stunned.
Against the odds she was pregnant.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Alysia says. “Even my doctors were amazed and so excited because they’d told us there was next to no chance I’d fall pregnant naturally after treatment. This baby really was regarded as a miracle.”
Eight months later, Alysia and Alex welcomed another son, Charlie.
“I always joke I thought it was menopause, but it turned out to be a baby!” Alysia says with a smile.
Now, Theo adores making his little brother laugh, while Charlie follows him everywhere.
Watching the boys together fills Alysia with gratitude every day.
“I often tell people Theo is the one who got me through cancer,” she says. “And Charlie has healed the last little bits that were broken inside me. The two boys are just the best.”
Now sharing her story, Alysia hopes it encourages others to trust their instincts, seek medical advice when something doesn’t feel right, and never lose hope.
“Life can change in an instant,” she says. “But even after the darkest times, miracles really can happen.”
This Blood Cancer Awareness Month, the Leukaemia Foundation is urging Australians to help support people and families like Alysia’s impacted by blood cancer. Find out more at leukaemia.org.au
