'I cannot tell you the relief that flooded over me when I heard the news'

Inspirational Nikki Bradley was delighted to share the news in the last week that having feared cancer diagnosis turned out not to be true. 

The Letterkenny woman - a cancer survivor, when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma at 16, had undergone rotationplasty surgery last year - where she had recovered from the amputation of the right leg. In the last couple of weeks, she had a significant worry.

“My family, partner, friends, and I have spent the past seven days thinking I had cancer,” she posted online. “It has been unbelievably triggering, and I spent most of the week thinking back to that time in 2003. 

“So to fill you in, for the past month, I have been battling multiple vicious infections, when one thing eased up something else flared up. It seemed never-ending. In the first week of this, I noticed a lump in my groin and obviously panicked a little due to my history. The following week, I had no choice but to go to A&E as the infections were getting worse, and I was in a lot of pain. 

“I had an ultrasound for the lump and honestly, if it wasn't for my bestie Elizabeth Crealey I would have been in bits. I was diagnosed after an ultrasound the last time and I will never forget the radiographer's face. I knew I had cancer before I left the room so to find myself having the same scan for a lump in the same area all these years later was just awful. 

“Two days later I got a call from my doc to say that ‘something sinister had shown up’ and I was admitted to hospital the next day where I have been ever since. 

“A CT (Computed Tomography) was carried out on he next day and again it didn't look good so an MRI was needed. I have spent the week coming to terms with the fact that my life was about to change and I visualised going through chemo, radio, surgery etc.  The results came in and IT'S NOT CANCER!!! 

“They think it's a reactivate node caused by the infection in my body. Thank. God!

"I cannot tell you the relief that flooded over me when I heard the news. I am going home today to hug my loved ones and drink a very large bottle of Prosecco. We just don't know what is around the corner and although I was grateful for my life before this, I am even more grateful now.”

Nikki is the founder of ‘Fighting Fit For Ewing’s’, which aims to increase awareness about the disease as well as participating in physical challenges. She is also an ambassador of No Barriers Foundation, which is a not-for-profit organisation based in Letterkenny. 

Their aim is to create an inclusive health facility equipped with specialist neurological equipment allowing anyone with a disability to train and improve their current level of physical and mental health by targeting mobility, strength and physical fitness regardless of their current baseline.

Nikki completed the Vhi Women's Mini Marathon in June of this year, on crutches, one of the 20,000 to take on the 10km event in Dublin. She was one of the ambassadors for this event.