'My doctor dismissed me and told me to take painkillers. If I'd listened, I would've died.'

Deborah Terkely has always been vigilant about her health.

Running a family business and raising two sons has never got in the way of looking after herself.

Bloods, breasts, thyroid and iron — all checked annually. Sometimes more.

When a migraine floored Deborah before her 40th birthday in 2022, she took it seriously.

"I've never experienced one before," she said. "It was not normal."

To escape the agony, Deborah curled up on the lounge and hid in a dark bedroom. The "unbearable" head and neck pain lasted days. She thought the worst.

"Panadol wasn't doing anything. I was healthy, I didn't have a cold," she said. "I thought horrible things, like it must be a brain or spine tumour."

After three days of being immobile, unable to hold her head up or tend to her boys, then aged eight and six, she made an appointment with her GP.

"I've had the same doctor for 12 years; she knew me well. I explained my symptoms, and said 'I want an MRI, to give me the most detailed image'."

The doctor's reply stunned Deborah. "She said, 'Just take some Panadol. You'll be fine. You're getting old, Deb'."

She was 39.

Deborah was 39 when she began suffering "unbearable" migraines. Image: Supplied.

"I felt my voice wasn't heard," Deborah recalled. "There was a lot of disappointment."

Taking her concerns to a new specialist, she was booked in for an MRI immediately.

"If something doesn't feel right, don't dismiss it just because your doctor says you're okay. Your doctor doesn't know your body as well as you do," Deborah said.

In happy news, Deborah's neck and head scans were clear. But the imaging found a three-centimetre mass on her thyroid.

"I knew it wasn't good news. I felt it in my gut," she recalled.

Soon, a biopsy confirmed the worst — thyroid cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes.

"My stomach sank. It was a relief in a way. I had an answer now," Deborah said. "I knewsomething wasn't right; I could have died if I didn't get a second opinion."

Bizarrely, Deborah's head and neck pain disappeared after her diagnosis.

"It was no relation to the cancer. I had no symptoms; no lumps or pain. My thyroid function tests always came back 'normal'. My family have a history of low thyroid function, so I was on top of it."

In hindsight, Deborah believes a stressful family matter triggered the head pain.

After receiving her thyroid cancer diagnosis in November, Deborah waited until January for surgery.

"It was stressful, waiting, knowing I had cancer in me. I needed to get it out," she said. "People told me to not worry, but it had spread, [and] I was concerned about breast tissue under my arms — if it goes there, it's breast cancer."

Doctors removed all of Deborah's thyroid and 70 per cent of her neck lymph nodes — a large number were cancerous.

After a six-hour surgery and three days in hospital, Deborah went home to rest. The surgery "took a big toll on [her] emotionally".

Then the mind games started. She feared the cancer hadn't been completely removed, and wondered if it would come back. Her doctor told her it could have been growing for 10 years.

However, Deborah did gain strength from the knowledge that she had advocated for her health. She even called her original doctor to share her diagnosis.

"I said, 'Do you realise what you've done? You didn't listen to me. I could have died because of this'. I hoped she learned from it, to not dismiss anyone else's concerns," she said.

Her biggest mental hurdle was looking at the 13-centimetre scar from her neck to her ear.

One week after surgery, Deborah found the 13cm scar difficult to look at. Image: Supplied.

"I didn't want to take off the bandage; I was terrified of what it would look like. It's going to be with me forever, and cancer isn't something you forget," she said.

But learning to come to peace with her scar led to a lucrative business move.

Deborah and her husband first founded their low-tox brand, L'ada Soaps and Scents, after meeting in 2009 and learning soap-making from her mother-in-law.

After surgery, Deborah created a serum for scar healing. Within three months, the results shocked everyone — including her doctor.

Three months after surgery, Deborah's doctor was impressed with how quickly the scar was healing. Image: Supplied.

"The appearance of my scar transformed from being raised and inflamed to soft, smooth, and barely visible," she said. "At my six-week check-up, the surgeon asked what I was using; he'd never seen such fast results. That made me feel better. I could see I was healing."

After posting about her cancer journey on social media to raise awareness, followers noticed the fading scar.

Deborah hadn't planned to sell the serum, but her followers "demanded" it.

Sales jumped 40 per cent in the first month. Now, it's their highest-selling product.

"We're constantly selling out. It's something amazing to come out of such a traumatic experience for me."

Two years later, the scar has faded to a pencil line. Deborah has come to think of it as a reminder of her work to empower women to advocate for their health.

Deborah has come to see her scar as a reminder to advocate for other women. Image: Supplied.

"I've been given the all clear. I know I'm okay. But it never leaves the back of my mind," she said. "My experience means we get to help hundreds and hundreds of people, some with scars from 10 years ago. I am grateful we get to do that."

Thyroid cancer is the seventh-most common cancer affecting Australian women, and the most common cancer diagnosed in women aged 20–24, according to the Cancer Council.

Thyroid cancer affects almost three times as many women as men, and rates are on the rise. There were four times as many cases in 2019 as there were in 1982.

CEO of the Australian Thyroid Foundation, Beverley Garside, says an ultrasound is the first step to diagnosing thyroid cancer.

"Women are usually time-poor managing work and family life and often put their family's health before their own, and overlook or ignore important symptoms which should be investigated," she said.

With more than one million Australians living with an undiagnosed thyroid disorder, Ms Garside says women should seek medical attention if anything is out of the ordinary.

"If anyone notices any changes to their voice, a stubborn cough, enlargement in the thyroid area, continually clearing their throat, trouble sleeping due to a feeling of restriction, they should consult their GP and ask for a thyroid ultrasound."

Deborah advises women to push for scans, even without symptoms.

"Most people don't find the cancer until it has spread, or they're investigating something else," Deborah said. "If I hadn't got a headache, it could have continued growing."

"As women we need to be more in tune with our bodies. We live busy lives, make the time to look after yourself and get your checks."

Feature image: Supplied.