I was socialising with friends and was living at home with my parents and five younger siblings. Until January 2008, that’s when my life changed forever.

I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, not knowing that those cysts were cancerous. I had to have an emergency operation that night to remove one of my ovaries. Before the doctors did the operation, they found litres of blood in my stomach, which also meant that I had to have a blood transfusion to replace all the blood that I had lost. I was in hospital for about a week after the operation.

 "This was only just the beginning."

I was transferred to a Hospital for women, where my new specialist gave me some more bad news – that I would have to have my other ovary removed and that I had been diagnosed with cancer. Chemotherapy was a walk in the park compared to the devastating news that I could never bear children, at least not through normal conception.

 "I shut everyone important out."

I chose a life that was filled with chaos, with people that were not even really my friends. I became a puppet to everybody’s whims and desires and not long into that chosen life I was continually back and forth in hospital, even at one point being told that I might not live because my illness was too far gone.

But I was given a life line and I was asked to make a choice “live or die” I chose to live. My life line was a trip to America. Not long after I was offered the trip of a life time, I quickly recovered, knowing this was something to look forward to. When I was at my worst point, there was one doctor that still had faith that I could still have a good quality life, knowing that the tumour itself couldn’t be removed at this point.He defied all advice from colleagues and went ahead with the full course of chemo. During my recovery period from chemo, I had plenty of time to reflect on all those people that took advantage of my vulnerability and totally stripped me of everything.

My best friend stepped in and took me in because I was still too proud to go home. After two years of being on my own, I finally decided to move back with my family. It took a lot of courage to tell mum that I was home sick.

"Now I'm as happy as ever."

I have learned one very valuable lesson that despite who we are at birth, family is the most important people in your life. If there was one piece of advice for anybody going through any serious illness is that ‘don’t let the illness define you as a person’. My mother believes that I was chosen for this path because my destiny lies in the people I meet and that karma plays an important part of this path.

"I am determined to make the most of everyday."

No longer will I do things to please other people and I will focus on positivity rather than negativity. Depression plays no part in recovery only hope and determination will get you through, not only physically but emotionally, and finding that inner peace is crucial to the healing process. I don’t know how this will all end up. I just know that the support of my friends and family and my determination to make the most of everyday, will enable me to have the quality of life that all of us deserve but sometimes take for granted.