Strictly star Delta Goodrem has opened up about her health journey after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in July 2003. The singer, who had already found success on Neighbours and with her debut album Innocent Eyes, was just 18 at the time.
According to the NHS, Hodgkin lymphoma is an "uncommon cancer that affects the white blood cells that help you fight infection."
Diagnosis and shock
Reflecting on the weeks before her diagnosis, Delta told The Guardian in 2007 that she had been feeling tired and had lost weight before noticing a lump in her neck. Her family doctor initially assured her it was a swollen lymph node, but when she developed a rash, she and her family decided to undergo a hospital examination.
Delta, who was in the process of launching a new single in the US at the time, was shocked when her mother, Lea, and brother, Trent, suddenly arrived with her test results.
"My mum looked broken. She said the hospital had told her I had cancer and we had to go there straight away," Delta recalled. "I just went into shock. I was shaking, couldn't take it in. I mean, even though it does happen to younger people, you just never ever imagine it will happen to you. I can't describe how scared I was, real fear like I have never known before or since."
Treatment and remission
"Everything was going for me, I didn't even know the meaning of the word insecurity, and suddenly I am surrounded by words like operation, cancer, chemotherapy, radiation. I bawled my eyes out for days," she continued. "I felt like I imagine a cornered animal feels. And as well as your own pain, you're hurt by the pain others feel. I saw my dad crying for the first time in ages."
According to Delta, she underwent an operation the following day but spent months receiving chemotherapy, radiation and steroid treatment. The Strictly star eventually announced she was in remission in December 2003.
Raising awareness
Twenty years later, Delta continues to speak about her diagnosis while raising awareness. Appearing on Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast last year, the 41-year-old said: "My journey with cancer has been quite present in the sense of still speaking to people about it so consistently."
"You speak to a couple of people a week who are currently in the journey, and they're in the fight. Somebody asked me the other day if it felt like yesterday or ages ago, and I said, 'Well, it does feel like another lifetime ago', but some of the moments that I experienced in that moment are still so present."
Noting that with time she has been able to process her cancer battle, Delta said: "I don't get emotional as much anymore… But occasionally I might see something and maybe a happy tear of being grateful because I'm here in full flight of health."
