'I didn't feel sick enough to have it': Single and 'healthy' mum-of-three little girls, 29, is tragically diagnosed with terminal stage four cancer - after putting weight loss down to 'stress'
- At 28, Allana Hutchins' number one priority was caring for her three little girls
- So when the police officer lost 10 kilos in two weeks, she put it down to stress
- But in February 2019, she found a lump between ribs on the left side of her torso
- After weeks of nausea and fatigue, she was diagnosed with kidney cancer
- Doctors performed surgery which removed Allana's kidney and part of her bowel
- Six months later, the cancer had progressed to stage four which cannot be cured
At 28, Allana Hutchins' number one priority was caring for her three young daughters, Ava, nine, Kora, seven and five-year-old Ana.
The New Zealand police officer spent days off taking her little girls on trips across the countryside, playing outdoors and giving them as active a life as possible.
So when the busy single mother from Hawkes Bay rapidly lost 10 kilos in the space of two weeks over Christmas in 2018, she gave it little thought, putting it down to stress from her hectic schedule.
'I wasn't trying to lose weight, wasn't exercising any more than usual, but I felt fine so I just put it down to stress,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
But as weeks passed, Allana felt increasingly fatigued and during the first week of February 2019, she found a small lump in between the two lowest ribs on the left side of her torso.
At 28, Allana Hutchins' number one priority was caring for her three young daughters, Ava (right) Kora (left) and Ana (second from right)
A Google search suggested she had a swollen spleen, often caused by a mild infection, and she made an appointment with her GP to get antibiotics.
When blood tests showed no sign of infection, doctors ran a series of scans and admitted her to hospital for further investigation.
'Looking back, I definitely felt more tired than I was letting on. I had a lot of symptoms, loss of appetite, going to the bathroom constantly, a lot of nausea,' she said.
'When my kids are sick, I can tell you when they last ate or went to the toilet down to the second, but I guess you just don't take care of yourself so well. You put them first.'
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The hardworking police officer and single mother always put her children first, thinking little when she grew increasingly tired and nauseous
On Sunday morning, March 3, 2019, Allana received the devastating news that a large tumour was growing on her left kidney.
'A specialist came in and asked me if I wanted the results sugar coated, or given to me straight. They'd found a mass and they could tell it was cancerous without even needing to test it,' she said.
The growth was stage two papillary renal cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that develops inside the lining of the kidneys.
The early symptoms most renal cancer sufferers feel can be easily attributed to everyday pressures, which causes people to dismiss warning signs and can lead to a delayed diagnosis.
Tiredness and unexplained weight loss - both of which Allana experienced - can have relatively innocent explanations, but fever, blood in the urine and pain or lumps in the side should be reported to a doctor as soon as they are discovered.
Allana struggled to accept her disease, believing she was too young and too healthy to have cancer (pictured with friend Jade in 2017, a year and a half before her diagnosis)
'I cried a little bit, but to be honest that was more because I could see how uncomfortable the doctor was while she was telling me,' Allana said.
Doctors scheduled emergency surgery for the following Thursday, leaving Allana just three days to notify her work and meet with lawyers to draw up a will to protect her beloved daughters Ava, Kora and little Ana.
'It was surreal, a total blur. One minute I'm at work, playing with my girls, the next I'm in hospital about to have my organs removed.
'I didn't believe it. I was 28, healthy, with three young kids; I didn't feel sick enough to have cancer,' she said.
A seven hour long operation removed Allana's left kidney along with a huge tumour - 11cm wide and 15 cm long - and 20cm of her bowel, leaving her with a straight scar of the same length across her lower stomach.
A seven hour long operation removed Allana's left kidney along with a huge tumour - 11cm wide and 15 cm long - and 20cm of her bowel, leaving her with a straight scar of the same length stretching across her lower stomach
After a week in recovery, the family were overjoyed when a post-operation scan confirmed Allana's cancer had been completely removed, and doctors scheduled check-ups to monitor her condition over the coming months.
But in late August 2019, days after celebrating her 29th birthday, the cancer had regrown aggressively in the bed of her kidney and spread to her uterus. It had advanced to stage four.
For people with stage one papillary renal cell carcinoma, the odds of surviving five years or longer are better than 80 percent.
By the time the disease reaches stage four, the five-year survival rate drops to just eight percent.
'This cancer is so rare at my age, they can't even give me a predicted life expectancy,' she said.
'From the cases they have, some have lasted a year, and some haven't even made it to a year.'
After receiving the news, Allana's only thought was of leaving her young children behind.
Days after her 29th birthday, when Allana was told the cancer had regrown in the bed of her kidney and spread to her uterus, her only thought was of leaving her young children behind
Treatment for Allana's cancer is complicated.
Neither chemotherapy or radiation are effective alone, leaving her with no alternative but an experimental and expensive drug called Sunitinib, a daily tablet which costs a staggering $10,315 AUD ($10,760 NZ) per month.
While Australia and New Zealand have two of the highest rates of kidney cancer in the world, only behind the US, neither country has a screening programme for the disease and funding is low in comparison to other cancers.
Allana's aunt Lisa has started a fundraising campaign to pay for medication, which has received generous donations which will fund her treatment until the beginning of April 2020.
Allana hopes to take her beloved daughters around New Zealand to visit family and friends this year, as she bravely continues her battle against cancer
Over the past four months the tumour in her kidney bed has shrunk by 6cm, making her eligible to start rounds of chemo to halt cancer from spreading further.
But doctors have told Allana they cannot cure her cancer, only slow the progression of her illness.
'Chemo will never cure it. It will slow it down but eventually the cancer will overpower the chemo and it will stop working,' she said.
In January, Allana took Ava, Kora and Ana on a trip to the Gold Coast in Queensland where they made swam in the sea and played on the beach, making memories as a family.
She hopes to take them around New Zealand to visit family and friends this year as she bravely continues her battle against cancer.
