What was supposed to be a routine dental check-up for international student Constanza Guerra Parada has become a life-changing ordeal.
The young Sydney-based Chilean, 31, first noticed bruises on her limbs, fevers and fatigue in late July but brushed them off thinking they were due to her work as a cleaner.
When she was unable to eat due to the inflammation in her gums, Ms Guerra Parada finally took herself to a dentist.
She was told her inflammation was unusual and was sent to a GP for blood tests.
Two days later, Ms Guerra Parada, or Connie, was admitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where doctors delivered the crushing news that she had acute myeloid leukemia.
The shock diagnosis rocked Ms Guerra Parada as she began chemotherapy almost immediately.
Fellow Chilean Isidora Becerra Quezada, 24 is not only one of Ms Guerra Parada’s closest friends but also one of her lifelines in .
‘I know that her treatment to fight cancer will be a long and hard process, and I will be beside her every step of the way,’ she wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help her friend.
‘Unfortunately, she is not with her family since she decided to come to to strengthen her professional skills, but due to circumstances this dream will vanish.’
Just a week before the shock diagnosis, Ms Guerra Parada had booked a holiday to visit her family back home and had planned to return to for her second semester of studies.
Ms Becerra Quezada said her friend struggled to find a way to tell her family she wouldn’t be able to see them.
‘First, she told her brother about her illness so that he could help her tell her mother,’ Ms Becerra Quezada told 7news.com.au.
The family is now saving up to travel to and help care for Ms Guerra Parada.
‘Currently, she is all alone,’ Ms Becerra Quezada wrote online.
She added that her friend has been severely weakened by the treatment.
‘The medications and chemotherapy are not showing good results … first, it started with an allergic reaction all over her skin, and now it is infected by something because the antibiotics are not having much of an effect, either,’ Ms Becerra Quezada wrote.
Ms Guerra Parada doesn’t have the luxury of focusing on her recovery either with her treatment clouded by financial and international complications.
Her student visa requires she attend all her classes, but that appears impossible.
Ms Guerra Parada will need official approval of a deferral of studies from her school to stay legally in the country.
However, it has been years since Ms Guerra Parada lived in Chile, so she doesn’t have insurance to cover her treatment there either.
‘For her safety, we would prefer that this process be finished in ,’ Ms Becerra Quezada said.
Even if she keeps her visa, Ms Guerra Parada will need to pay out-of-pocket for the greater part of her treatment.
Her insurance here in means roughly a fifth of her total treatment will be covered here.
Doctors estimate it will take six to eight months to recover if the chemotherapy is successful.
‘With help … she will be able to fight cancer in better conditions and be able to be with her family in this very sad and challenging time,’ Ms Becerra Quezada wrote on the fundraiser.