Two years ago, I was the healthiest person I knew.
Fitness and wellness were my passions, and I was doing all that I could to live in alignment with those values. I optimised everything when it came to my health and wellbeing. I trained hard in the gym, competed in ultra marathons, ate a balanced diet, and prioritised sleep.
Professionally, I was thriving too. I was a Senior Executive for Global TikTok Music Partnerships and, before that, I’d built a successful career in Global Culture Marketing at Red Bull. I was travelling the world and, at least where my health was concerned, life felt carefree.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that, at 38, I’d be diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
The first time I noticed something was wrong was after running the Sydney Half Marathon in 2024. The race felt much harder than it normally would, and I just felt off. I couldn’t explain it.
Then, out of nowhere, I started getting these gushing night sweats. My knee was also swollen, which I put down to overtraining and not getting enough rest.
The week after the race, I went to the GP because my health was declining. Test results didn’t show anything unusual. But, just three weeks later, my health had deteriorated even further.
I was getting shooting pains in my arm and neck, headaches, swollen lymph nodes that made swallowing difficult, and I had debilitating stomach cramps.
I knew something wasn’t right, so I went back to my GP and asked for a blood test, and I got her to feel the lump on my neck because I could feel pressure building there.
I was sent for an ultrasound, CT scan and then a Petscan. It wasn’t looking good.
I was at St Vincent’s Hospital when doctors delivered the devastating news: I had a high-grade, Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma – a life-threatening blood cancer that required immediate treatment.
Nothing could have prepared me to learn that I had a 13cm tumour growing in my chest and the cancer had spread to other parts of my body. My initial reaction was absolute shock. Like, WTF?! There is no other way to describe it.
The first thing I did was call my mum and tell her she’d better get on the next flight to come and see me. I’m a mumma’s boy, and I took comfort in knowing she would be there soon.
In many ways, I knew the road ahead would be out of my control. But the one thing I was sure of was the power of my mind.
Everything I’d done over the past five years to train not only physically, but mentally, as an athlete had prepared me for that moment. I came to see my mental strength as my superpower during the months of treatment that followed.
The chemotherapy itself was especially brutal. It kills everything good and everything bad in your body and absolutely annihilates your system.
I had 18 infusions of chemo. My hair fell out, I lost 11 kilos, and then there was constipation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, mood swings, insomnia, nausea, and ‘chemo brain’.
But despite the intensive chemo, my cancer wasn’t responding. So, the next line of treatment was to prepare for a stem cell transplant. When that also failed, I was eligible for CAR T-cell therapy, which uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight the cancer.
At the 60-day mark, I was still showing potential signs of disease, so I had radiation therapy for 20 days straight.
During treatment, you’re as low, physically and mentally, as you can be. And on top of that, it’s emotionally draining. There were days where I would break down crying because there was nothing else to give.
Then, just when I thought I couldn’t feel any lower, I lost one of the most important people in my life through tragic circumstances. Suddenly, I was dealing with profound grief while also fighting for my life. How was I going to deal with such a huge loss while also going through this completely gnarly cancer?
It might sound cliché but, even then, I never gave up hope.
I’m a big believer in the power of the mind, and there’s always another way you can push through. I really leaned into that positive mindset as hard as I could, and I have no doubt that it was the glass-half-full mentality I was raised with, combined with the support of my mum and loved ones, that helped me get through.
I made a conscious decision to only focus on things within my control; the smile on my face, what I put into my body, and getting outside for some sunlight. Somehow, I found a sense of calm within the chaos.
Ultimately, I was incredibly fortunate that the CAR T-cell therapy worked, allowing me to become cancer-free. It’s by no means the end of my journey but it’s an important milestone as I adjust to my new normal.
My cancer diagnosis is, and will always be, ones of the biggest ultramarathons of my life, alongside dealing with the grief of an immeasurable loss.
If there’s one piece of advice I can offer anyone on their own health journey, it’s this: never, ever give up hope.
Govind is one of 55 Australians diagnosed with blood cancer every day. This Blood Cancer Awareness Month, visit the Leukaemia Foundation at leukaemia.org.au or call 1800 620 420 for more information or support.
