Suffering pain so excruciating she would sometimes cry herself to sleep at night, Janine Searle spent six months traipsing to countless appointments with medical professionals trying to find out why her shoulder hurt so much.
It wasn’t until a bone sample was finally taken and sent off for testing – by doctors in three different countries – that she received the diagnosis she’d spent so long dreading.
“I clearly remember that day,” Janine, 24, solemnly tells Woman’s Day. “I had my dad and my aunty with me, as well as a whole bunch of other doctors in that room.
“When they told me, it went all silent. I paused for a bit and then started crying. All I could think was, ‘I’m so young. How can it be cancer?’”
Janine, then aged 20 and a keen ballet dancer all through her teenage years, had moved from Blenheim to Christchurch to study tourism. She dreamed of travelling, but it was on her first day in her new career in the travel industry when she felt the pain in her shoulder for the first time.
Doctors diagnosed a muscle injury and sent Janine to physiotherapy and occupational therapy. But the pain didn’t go away with treatment or medication. In fact, it got worse.
“Night-time was probably the worst pain. One night, I went straight to A&E and saw a completely different doctor. He could see that I was in a lot of pain and he was probably the only one who took me seriously out of all of the doctors I saw.”
This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 16, 2023 edition of Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TREASURE & TRAUMA
The launch of the new season of Celebrity Treasure Island doubled as an eighth wedding anniversary celebration for contestant Millen Baird and his wife Siobhan Marshall, who came fourth on the show back in 2022.
JUDGE JAY-JAY
Radio diva Jay-Jay Feeney delivers her verdict on your biggest dilemmas
CASEY'S BABY JOY 'OUR GIRL IS ALREADY SO LOVED'
The Te Puke gym owner refused to let a devastating accident stop her from becoming a mother
DEAD FUNNY! SHOSHANA'S GOING SOLO
The Emmy Award-winning writer is starring in a macabre new comedy
TWO RAW SISTERS BABY MAKES THREE!
Rosa and Margo have a new cookbook and bundle of joy on the way
HOME AND AWAY'S NEW MÃORI STAR
The son of a Kiwi sporting Legend, Cantona Stewart is making waves in Summer Bay
TV STAR AIDEE 'THE NIGHT I ALMOST DIED'
The actress and director opens up about her terrifying ordeal
CARMEL SEPULONI I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FIGHTER!
Our former deputy PM the lessons she's learnt in politics on CTI
KENNEDY & SOLLY'S ROMANTIC RACE TO THE ALTAR
The Black Ferns co-captain and her rugby star husband organised the ir nuptials in just five days!
THE BRAD & GEORGE SHOW is back!
Their lovable bromance is stealing the spotlight in Venice!