The graduate who beat cancer — twice
“I never wanted to use it as an excuse — I would even wear a chemotherapy backpack before going to CityBar!” Meet the Masters’ graduate who beat Cancer twice on her journey to graduation.
When Michelle Fredman excitedly arrived in London to study at City, the last thing she expected was for her cancer to relapse. The now 26-year-old who was born in Cape Town South Africa, was raised in London until the age of 10, and saw this as an opportunity to experience the city as an adult.
The aspiring reporter who fell in love with writing while travelling South America had already been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 23 while on her Undergraduate degree.
Now graduating with a distinction in International Journalism, the inspiring survivor reflects on her five-year journey.
The first diagnoses — cancer at 23.
“My first diagnoses came out of nowhere. I was in Cape Town studying and working part time as a waitress. I felt tired all the time, but I just put that down to being overworked and stressed like any other student.
“I kept coughing all the time. I felt so exhausted at every stage of the day and physically had to drag myself out of bed just to get to class. It became so bad that I had to go for tests where they found two lumps in my neck and my chest.
“When they told me I had Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma I was devastated. I kept thinking how can I have cancer at 23? My adult life had only really just begun and now it was potentially ending.”
Hodgins Lymphoma is one of the rarest forms of cancer however it is most commonly found in young people in their 20s. The cancer develops in the immune system and decreases the infection-fighting properties of white blood cells.
Despite the diagnoses Michelle felt confident she could beat the disease: “I felt positive, it is a very curable disease and my dad has just beat a spell of cancer the year before, so fighting is in my blood!
“I underwent six months of chemotherapy and despite my appearance drastically changing, I focused a lot of this time on my writing.
“Studying gave me an escape from everything and the cancer gave me something to write about. I wrote a cancer column and blogged about my experiences. In a way, the disease gave me my voice.”
On the road to recovery, on the road to nature
“Come January 2017 I had finished my degree and my last spell of chemo was successful. I was cured. I wanted to get as far as away from everything as possible, so I went back to the thing that made me happy — travelling.
“I booked a one-way ticket to Ecuador where I worked as an English teacher, before I headed to the Amazon Rainforest to be a volunteer. It just felt right to go back to nature and truly feel alive again.”
Despite enjoying her travels, Michelle couldn’t help but feel she had a calling for more education.
“I loved travelling, but I really wanted to write about other topics and kickstart my career.
“Studying in London was the clear choice. I was born there so it felt like a homecoming in some way. I had heard good things about the journalism course at City and so I decided to make the leap.
“It felt so exciting to be back in London and education. For the first time in a long time I felt healthy and like I was ready to accomplish something again.
“I arrived to London in September 2018 and by October my cancer had relapsed and the disease was back.”
The second diagnoses — cancer and a Masters
According to the Academic Group, only 10–30% of Hodgkin Lymphoma patients suffer a relapse after achieving a complete remission.[1] Michelle was unfortunately part of that small percentage.
“I tried to lie to myself, but I knew it was back. I kept losing weight, I felt tired all the time like before and I struggled with breathing. I wanted to shake it off, I wanted to fight it myself.
“The second time felt worse, I was more scared than before. I thought I had defeated the disease and had just started a Masters in London after living in the Amazon Rainforest — I should have been feeling invincible at this stage of my life, but instead I was terrified.”
Despite feeling her worst, Michelle focused everything into her studies and writing. Using the cancer to inspire her course work and dissertation.
“I refused to let the cancer define me. I refused to let it affect my life at university. I had worked too hard to let it control me. I used my Masters as my motivation, as a reason to fight my way out of bed in the morning.”
Depending on the severity of their cancer, some patients have to stay at a ‘chemo hotel,’ a place where patients receive treatment relatively close to hospitals. It was at her hotel, that Michelle completed one of her projects at university, where she delivered a radio package from the location.
“I thought if I have cancer, I may as well make it useful for something. So, I wrote my dissertation on going through cancer in your 20s. I wrote so much, like how cancer can affect you sexually, about hair loss and femininity and even about other cancer fighters and survivors who motivated me.
“I worked with some amazing people and charities like Shine Cancer Support. I interviewed so many people who were going through the same things as me — some even more severe. They encouraged me to keep fighting, they helped inspire my love of writing.
“My classmates were shocked when they found out I had cancer — it was pretty obvious from my haircut, but no one expected it to be in a 25-year-old girl. We have this idea that cancer is only in older people, but it can really affect anyone.
“I wanted to be as normal as possible. At the hotel I would wear a backpack with tubes going into my arm pumping chemotherapy throughout my body. I wore it for 24 hours a day every five days, before a two-week break. When the treatment had finished, I would usually be heading to the library or lectures — there were some occasions I went from the hotel to CityBar and out to Shoreditch!”
The loss of my mother the rebirth of me
Despite her defiance towards the cancer that had already affected her entire higher educational career, nothing could prepare Michelle for the death of her mother in May 2019.
“When the news came through that my mother had passed away after suffering from dementia I was broken.
“I didn’t just feel distraught, I felt angry. I felt how could this all be happening? First, I experience one of the most uncommon forms of cancer not only once but twice, now my mother passes away and I am only 25. I felt like it couldn’t be real.
“My dad moved to London so we could be together during this. Thinking back, it was the right time to let my mother go, she had been ill for a very long time and what happened seemed like it would be for the best.
“I struggled to remain upbeat about my cancer during this time, but I had to keep going. I was told I needed a stem cell transplant; however, they could not use my own cells due to the amount of treatment I had in the past.
“I was told I needed a donor and that person was none other than my sister.”
There is only a one in four percent chance of a sibling being a perfect match for a stem cell transplant, according to Cancer Research UK.[2] Michelle’s older sister, Nicole, who was living in Australia was that match where she flew to London to save her sisters’ life.
“Like all siblings, I fought with my sister. We grew apart and reconnected, only to then grow apart again! But it felt fitting that she was the person who would save me.”
With her sister’s blood cells pumping through her body, Michelle felt reborn.
“With the transplant a success and my cancer in remission I felt alive again — I was overjoyed.
“All throughout the experience I didn’t think I was going to be able to complete my Masters. However, I handed in my dissertation in late July, and not even a week later I was on the treatment table for my transplant.
“It felt like there was some higher power that was determined for me to finish my Masters!”
Graduating and the next chapter
“This whole experience has changed my entire outlook on life. Young people have so much pressure on them to succeed and make something out of their lives, but I am just so happy to be alive! I am so much happier now.
“I want to stay in London and become a journalist. The media can be so negative and difficult to read, so I want to be an optimistic voice, covering stories that have positive influences. Life is hard enough — lets focus on the good news!
“It feels amazing to be graduating, I really did not want to drop out from City, but at times I honestly didn’t think I would make it here.
“I have survived cancer twice, I have also survived a Masters! The past five years of my life feels like the end of one journey and the start of another.”
[1] https://academic.oup.com/annonc/article-pdf/13/suppl_4/159/418503/mdf654.pdf
[2] https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/bone-marrow-stem-cell-transplants/who-can-donate-bone-marrow-or-stem-cells
