'I've been given 12 months to live. Then I found out I forgot to tick one box on my insurance form.'

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The words that changed everything came on an ordinary January morning.

Mum-of-two, Casey-Lee Peters, remembers sitting in the urologist's office, hoping to get answers about what was causing her recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) when her doctor delivered the words that left her reeling.

His voice was grave when he relayed the news.

"He told me it was cancer. I was absolutely mind-blown," she told Mamamia.

"Never in a million years did I think that's what it would be. I have a lifelong history of UTIs."

Casey-Lee had hoped to get answers about her UTIs. Image: Supplied.

At just 38, Casey-Lee was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer, a disease she's been told is most commonly found in men over the age of 75.

"I was told I was just extremely unlucky," she said. "It's horrible. It's like, it still sometimes doesn't feel."

Until that moment, her symptoms had seemed ordinary — recurrent UTIs, discomfort, fatigue — nothing that screamed life-threatening.

'I'm not ready to go.'

In the months before her diagnosis, Casey-Lee had been juggling a demanding job and raising two young daughters in Perth. She was newly married, thinking about expanding her family.

When a specialist assured her the issue wasn't gynaecological, she shelved her concerns.

She fell pregnant and delayed further tests, because urologists won't conduct invasive investigations during pregnancy.

"After giving birth, the symptoms kind of went away for a bit," she recalled. "So, I didn't think twice about it."

It was only after moving house and changing GPs that her luck turned. The new doctor, experienced in urology, sent her for more detailed scans. What he found was devastating: a tumour, already spreading.

"The urologist he sent me to found mass on my bladder," she said.

Within weeks, she was in hospital beginning chemotherapy and radiation.

Casey-Lee was told bladder cancer is most commonly found in men over the age of 75. Image: Supplied.

She also underwent emergency IVF, in a bid to preserve her fertility before the treatments forced her body into menopause.

"Unfortunately, the two eggs they got didn't survive," she said. "So, I can't have kids again. But I'm blessed to have my two daughters. A lot of people don't get that chance."

The treatment, doctors told her, was aimed at a cure. For a while, that hope sustained her. But by mid-year, scans revealed the cancer had moved from her bladder to her pelvic lymph nodes, and then to her left lung.

The cancer, which was stage one when it was discovered, had spread.

"The immunotherapy, which was meant to be a game-changer, actually seemed to p*ss the cancer off even more," she said. "It spread to my left lung, my lymph nodes and back around my bladder. Now I'm stage four."

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She is now part of an early-phase clinical drug trial, one of the first humans to receive the combination therapy, matched to her tumour's genetic profile.

It's a fragile hope, but hope all the same.

"I just want it to slow things down," she said. "I'm not ready to go."

The isolation of bladder cancer.

"When I was going in for chemo, I was almost always the youngest patient there," Casey-Lee said. "It felt hard to relate to anyone there."

The Cancer Council WA connected her with a counsellor, offering a space to process the fear and loneliness that come with such a diagnosis.

But the weight of what she faces, especially as a young mother, never fully lifts.

Her youngest daughter is just two years old.

Casey-Lee is a mum to two daughters. Image: Supplied.

"It breaks my heart every time I look at her, because she won't remember me," she said.

Her eldest, who has just turned 12, knows more than most children should.

"That could be my last birthday with her," Casey-Lee said.

"I've never lied to her about any of it. I'd rather she goes through the emotions with me, while I'm here, than have to deal with it after I'm gone."

Doctors have told Casey-Lee she likely has 12 months to live, should the trial not work.

The second battle.

As if fighting cancer weren't enough, Casey-Lee found herself locked in another fight; one with her insurer.

When she switched her life and income protection policies through her superannuation, she didn't think much of her history of UTIs.

"It's so common," she said, adding that doctors think the cancer formed mid-to-late last year.

"I've had UTIs for years. Would you declare every time you've had a cold or migraine?

"I've got medical opinions that it (the cancer) has nothing to do with UTIs. It was just a symptom that I had, and I had them even when I didn't have cancer."

After Casey-Lee's diagnosis, her insurer refused to pay out her income protection, citing nondisclosure.

"They're using something that's incredibly common in women as a reason not to cover me," she said.

The irony isn't lost on her.

"If I'd stayed with my old policy, I'd still be covered. If I hadn't shopped around — like we're all encouraged to — I'd have that safety net," she said.

"I do have normal health insurance. This was all done through my super … it was my income protection."

Her case has sparked conversations about how women's health issues are treated by the insurance industry.

Conditions such as endometriosis or recurrent UTIs, often minimised or misdiagnosed, can end up penalising women financially later in life.

"It's not just about me," Casey-Lee said. "I want other women to be aware, to read the fine print, to declare everything, because insurers will find anything to use against you."

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Living on borrowed time.

Casey-Lee knows the statistics. She knows what the doctors have told her. But she refuses to live as if she's already gone.

Recent test results are looking promising, with the cancer showing a reduction of around 24 per cent.

Casey-Lee's cancer has reduced with recent treatment. Image: Supplied.

"Overall my cancer has reduced. So, I remain on the trial and hope that more results like this come for my next scan in five more weeks," she said.

"I'm planning to travel, but I will be doing it based around the trial, especially if my results are good.

"I want to go to Liverpool (in the UK) to see my sister, and then to America, to Nashville. I've loved country music."

Casey-Lee wants her story to help other women, other mothers, other people blindsided by illness and bureaucracy alike.

"Cancer doesn't discriminate," she said. "But the system sometimes does. So be your own advocate. Ask questions. Declare everything. Don't wait."

Feature image: Supplied.