- Natalie just thought she had nits when her head began to feel extemely itchy
- But then she found a lump near her collarbone and, shockingly, it was cancer
- Years later her son Sebastian was diagnosed with the same cancer – Hodgkin lymphoma
Here Natalie Khoury, 49, Melbourne, Vic tells her story in her own words…
Do I have nits?’ I cried to my husband, George, madly scratching my head.
‘I can’t see any,’ he replied, having a look.
It was November 2013 and I’d had the itching for months.
I couldn’t understand it.
Maybe it’s dandruff, I thought, but there was no sign of any.
I also felt a sharp pain in my neck.
As I rubbed in some anti-inflammatory cream, I felt a lump near my collarbone, about the size of an olive.
How long has that been there? I wondered.
I was 37, a mum to three boys – Jerome, then nine, Sebastian, seven, and Elijah two.
The idea that this lump could be something sinister made my heart sink.
Visiting the doctor that week, I had a round of tests and a biopsy.
‘I’m afraid you have Hodgkin lymphoma,’ he said a few weeks later.
I had three rounds of chemo over four months
‘It’s a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system.’
‘I have cancer?’ I cried, stunned. George couldn’t believe it either.
Checking on forums afterwards, I learned that itchiness was often a symptom of the disease.
George and I explained my illness to the older boys.
‘It’s only stage one,’ I said, hugging them tightly. ‘I’ll be okay.’
I just hoped I was right.
Next came a medical whirlwind – bone marrow tests, surgery to remove the lymph node, PET scans and blood tests.
I had three rounds of chemo over four months and 15 days of radiation.
READ MORE: Ellie’s cancer fight: ‘Ronald McDonald House gave us hope’
My hair fell out and, after stacking on nine kilos from the steroids and developing a ‘moon face’, I couldn’t bear to look in the mirror.
To support me, George and the boys all shaved their heads, and took a family photo of us beaming into the camera!
That picture kept me going.
In May 2014, my treatment finished.
‘Thank God,’ I whispered when a scan showed I was cancer-free in May 2014.
Grateful to be healthy again, I raised thousands through the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea as well as church fundraisers.
And I became a Cancer Council ambassador, sharing my story to raise awareness.
Just before Christmas in 2021, Sebastian, then 15, started scratching all over and coming up in hives.
‘I feel I’m going to tear my skin off, Mum!’ he said.
‘You’re eating too much gluten,’ I said.
He was working in a pizza shop in the holidays, so I felt sure he was just eating too much pizza.
But in February 2022, when the itchiness didn’t go away, we visited the doctor.
Blood tests revealed inflammation, so Sebastian then had scans and a biopsy.
READ MORE: Sleeping Beauty syndrome: I slept for 90 days
However nothing prepared us for the news.
We were shocked to be told that Sebastian had Hodgkin lymphoma too – but his was stage four.
‘Please God, take the cancer out of his body and put it back into mine,’ I begged.
I thought my own diagnosis had been the worst day of my life, but the thought of losing my son was unbearable.
He was so healthy, coaching tennis in his spare time.
And all he’d had was an itch and a rash!
I couldn’t tell him, so George did.
‘Are you alright?’ I asked him tearfully afterwards.
‘I’m fine, Mum,’ he insisted in typical Sebastian style. ‘Don’t worry.’
We were shocked to be told that Sebastian had Hodgkin lymphoma too – but his was stage four.
Sebastian started treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Vic.
His sperm was frozen to ensure his chances for having a child later in life, a chest port was inserted, and chemo began.
I was so anxious that I went into stress-induced menopause at 46.
Sebastian endured six rounds of chemo over six months.
He was hooked up for eight to nine hours a day, then back again the next.
He needed several blood transfusions, and steroids made his bones ache terribly.
Yet he never complained.
He cracked jokes and kept studying to maintain his grades.
He even returned to school between treatments, wearing a beanie to hide his hair loss.
Finally, on August 31, 2022, he had his last chemo session.
‘He’s cancer-free,’ the doctor smiled.
READ MORE:A kiss from her husband revealed Sarah’s cancer
Happy tears poured down my cheeks as Sebastian rang the bell marking the end of his treatment.
To give back, Sebastian entered the Herald Sun’s Run For The Kids, raising $6000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
And we threw a huge party to celebrate his 16th birthday.
Now, at 18, he’s studying medicine so that he can help others.
To help us process everything we’d been through, we wrote a book together, alternating chapters to tell both sides of our story.
Some of the profits go to the charities that helped us.
Now we just want to enjoy life, one precious moment at a time.
‘The Worst Best Year – A Mother and Son’s Obstacle Through Cancer’, by Natalie Khoury and Sebastian Khoury, is available online.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
