Cautious all her life in the sun, Williamson (Renae Williamson) thought she had minimized her risk of developing skin cancer.
She often felt a headache, but it all seemed to explain that the mother, who had two children in Western Australia, had received a diagnosis and had never thought that it would change her life forever.
At first it was a migraine, and her family had this common problem, so it didn't get immediate attention at first. Yet Williamson knew the cause must be dangerous as it grew more and more unbearable.
After a routine visit to a family doctor, the 40-year-old was sent to an MRI with her husband, Jared, "just to be safe"-if she didn't do it, she would die the next day.
Six days after the first symptoms of a headache, Perth's medical center scan found two nodules in her brain.
Williamson wrote on the GoFundMe page: "[one of the nodules] causes a lot of swelling in the brain, and if I let it go, I'll probably be dead in 24 hours."
Speaking of this shocking diagnosis, Ms. Williamson said. "I wasn't feeling well at the time. My head was banging. I asked Jared to tell them we were going home, because all I wanted to do was go to bed. "
"the staff at the medical center took Jared away and told him I had two nodules in my head. He was startled and had to ask them to explain it again. Then he left the room, turned around the corner and looked at me. "
"I'll never forget the expression on his face," she wrote.
After diagnosis, she underwent a series of medical procedures, including removal of one of the tumors, and stay in intensive care for five days.
Doctors later found that Williamson also had life-threatening, stage IV melanoma, "no major source."
More than a year later, Williamson had to rely on expensive drugs and invasive surgery to survive. Although she responded well to the treatment, her entire family had to make sacrifices because the diagnosis had darkened their world.
"I had to give up my nursing studies." "We have to sell our apartment to pay for fighting the disease or live with melanoma," she said.
Williamson urged others to pay close attention to their melanoma signs.
Check in the shower every week, and if you find anything unusual to you, do it quickly. Don't listen to others say it's nothing. You know your body, believe in it, and the most important thing is to take care of it. "