Shelley had a headache. It turned into a rare cancer diagnosis
By Lauren Thomson
Shelley Garvey blamed her fatigue and headaches on a slow recovery from a virus.
It turned out to be a rare form of cancer.
The Adelaide mum was just 46-years-old when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in June 2019.
Garvey had found it hard to recover from a virus — and then she noticed a persistent pulsating sensation in the back of her head, accompanied by a dull headache, which lasted for about seven weeks.
This Rare Cancers Awareness Day, the Leukaemia Foundation is calling for greater awareness and urgent investment in research to tackle one of the deadliest and underinvested rare cancers in Australia – acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).