A mother of two has tragically died of a rare cancer a year after she went to doctors complaining of a 'dull pain' in her back.
Melinda Kolodynski was given weeks to live by doctors when she was told that she had a 'one in 10 million' diagnosis.
The 34-year-old had first noticed a 'dull ache' in her lower back in 2020, but dismissed it as period pains.
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However, two months later, the pain got so severe that she was 'struck down'.
Recalling it to 7News, Kolodynski said: "By 11pm, I was in the worst pain of my life. I was begging my husband to kill me as we waited for the ambulance, it was that bad."
In the hospital, a CT scan revealed a cluster of three masses which was suspected to be ovarian cancer.
However, the worst was yet to come, as further testing revealed that she had angiosarcoma, soft tissue blood cancer.
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Kolodynski said: "It's a one-in-a-million type of cancer... Being in my pelvis as a primary cancer meant mine was actually a one-in-10-million case."
When chemotherapy failed to work, she was told she would need to undergo a grueling sixteen hour surgery to remove the organs around her pelvis and have them replaced with stoma bags.
However, before the operation could take place, Kolodynski was told the tumour had grown too large to be operated on.
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In a touching Instagram post shared last month, Kolodynski revealed she was receiving end of life care.
She wrote: "As the saying goes all good things must come to an end, and I landed myself a stay in palliative care for what I like to call a quick tune up after a suspected malignant septic episode.
"My scan results weren't good and it's taken me a few days to gather myself and prepare for the next chapter of this hideous disease.
"Cancer has metastasised to my liver and is quite progressed, my oncologist talks of prognoses that I'm quite frankly just not willing to accept, so once again we spend a couple of days with our heads in the pillow, tears streaming down our faces but it's time to get up dust off and soldier on because there is a fight to be had and I'm not done here."
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Family and friends had urged the Sydney mum to keep fighting, with one writing: "When you fall down get back up, without you brightening our day life just wouldn’t be the same so get your tune up and back out here where you belong."
Before she passed away on Thursday this week, Kolodynski expressed her heartbreaking regret that she wouldn't see her two kids grow up.
She leaves behind her husband and two youngsters, Maximus, seven, and Corey, one.
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Kolodynski's mum Tracey has set up a GoFundMe to help support the bereaved family.
Ben Thompson