A mum-of-two has died from cancer a year after she went to the doctor with back pain she thought was caused by her period.
Melinda Kolodynski, 34, passed away on Thursday in Sydney, just weeks after doctors gave her a devastating end-of-life prognosis she ‘wasn’t willing to accept’.
‘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,’ she bravely wrote.
Her bold post inspired her friends and family – who pleaded with her to ‘keep fighting’.
‘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,’ one mate begged.
Before Mel died. she explained her main regret would be missing out on seeing her two kids grow up.
The loving mum left behind her husband and two sons, Maximus, seven, and one-year-old Corey.
Melinda Kolodynski (pictured with her family) was diagnosed with a super rare cancer in July after suffering back pain for two months
Loved ones reacted to the sad news by donating to the family’s GoFundMe in an attempt to help support the family through their grief and any financially challenging moments ahead.
Other devastated friends have revealed their shock at the mum’s passing and promised to hold their own children tighter.
Melinda’s cancer nightmare started in 2020, when she noticed a dull ache in her back – dismissing it as period pain.
She relied on Panadol to get through her hectic days with the kids.
But in July, two months after the ache started, she was suddenly struck down with unimaginable pain.
‘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,’ Ms Kolodynski told 7News in December.
Ms Kolodynski (above) was diagnosed with a ‘one-in-10-million’ case of angiosarcoma, soft tissue blood cancer
Ms Kolodynski (right) said her cancer is incurable and wants to spend her final days with her family and help her eldest son Maximus (right) recover from leg lengthening surgeries
Paramedics managed to dull the pain and rushed her to the hospital where CT scans revealed a cluster of three masses suspected to be advanced ovarian cancer.
However, further testing revealed a much scarier diagnosis: an ultra-rare angiosarcoma, soft tissue blood cancer.
‘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,’ she said.
After failed attempts at chemotherapy, Ms Kolodynski was told her only treatment option was a gruelling 16-hour surgery to remove the organs from around her pelvis and replace them with stoma bags.
But at the last minute she was told the tumour had grown too large for the surgery to work.
Last month, she revealed she was in palliative care in a heartfelt Instagram post.
‘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,’ she wrote at the time.
‘Cancer has metastasised to my liver and is quite progressed, my oncologist talks of prognosis’ 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’ she went on.
Her eldest son, Maximus, is also suffering through a long-term health battle to lengthen one of his legs which was short from birth.
Ms Kolodynski said last year she wanted to focus on helping him and preparing both her children for when she’s passed.
‘I have had to tell him mummies can’t always be there forever and that Daddy and Grandma will take care of him and his mummy will always be in his heart,’ she said.
A GoFundMe started by Ms Kolodynski’s (above) mother will raise money to help her live her final days to the fullest
Ms Kolodynski’s mum, Tracey, set up a GoFundMe to help support her family and ensure her daughter lived her last days to the fullest.
‘This has turned her and her little family’s life upside down,’ Tracey wrote.
‘Anyone who knows Melinda knows that she is a fighter who never backs down and who is a generous and caring support to anyone who needs it but now it is her turn and she needs it more than words can express.’
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