Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@tirahciampa
Topics: Health
Anish Vij
Topics: Health
A young model from Australia, who started suffering from shooting stomach pains, received a shock cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Tirah Ciampa, from Hobart, was told back in February that she had pancreatic cancer in the form of a huge tumour measuring 15cm.
The Miss World Australia national finalist insists she was 'fit and healthy' prior to the diagnosis.
The average age of pancreatic cancer patients in Australia is 72. Ciampa was just 27.
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She needed urgent surgery to have the tumor removed.
“I woke up from a seven-hour surgery with nine different tubes coming out of my body. Some draining fluid and some for pain management,” she wrote in an emotional social media post.
“The second day I got sent back into theatre to have two tubes in my stomach redone because they continued to leak every four hours.
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"I had to stay awake for this one, holding my mums hand just focusing on her whilst they replaced them.
“I spent nine days in hospital and every day in there I slowly got one or two tubes removed up until the last day.
“There was not a dull moment in between injections, doctors, visitors and my liquid diet.”
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Thankfully, just two months after surgery, Ciampa is now cancer free.
"I am cancer free!" she said.
"This February, I found out that I had a 15cm tumour growing from inside my pancreas.
"I had prepared myself for the worst.
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"I had wrote my goodbye letters and I stayed strong throughout the whole process for the people closest to me."
She told her followers not to take life 'for granted'.
"I never knew how lucky I was before to be able to shower myself or even get out of bed by myself with no pain," the model continued.
"These things we would never stop and think of as blessings but I will now be forever grateful for the little things in life.
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"Being completely codependent on another person for any type of movement is a horrible feeling and I wouldn’t wish this journey on anyone but I truly did get out of this so lucky and my whole journey is nothing on people who struggle with terminal illness for years.
"My heart goes out to anyone suffering and if my story can help anyone appreciate their life a little bit more or help someone who may be going through a similar situation then at least I’m making a difference in someone’s life.
"If this tumour was left for another year or two I would have died. Listen to your body!
"Especially women who put every weird feeling down to their menstrual cycle or hormones.
"Your body is a temple, it’s all we have to live in this beautiful world."