I was told I had incurable cancer and three years to live at age 34 – taking up new hobby has kept me alive and thriving at 37

‘I thought my life was over,’ Michelle Hughes says, recalling the moment she was told she had incurable stage 4 cancer and just three years to live. 

The mom-of-three from Prince Edward Island was 34 years old when she received her ‘death sentence’ which turned her whole life upside down. 

After collapsing at home following the birth of her third child, doctors went on to discover ‘innumerable’ lung tumors and 15 liver cysts in her body, which they said could not be operated on. 

At first, Mrs Hughes said she was in ‘a really negative space because I lost the life that I envisioned for myself and my family.’

But that was three years ago. Incredibly, since then, Mrs Hughes embarked on a wellness drive with the goal of becoming a triathlete. 

Having never been a runner before, Mrs Hughes took part in 12 running events in 2023, including a half marathon. 

And this August, she completed a half triathlon retracing the route from the hospital where she was diagnosed to her summer home.

This epic feat has been turned into a short documentary which will air this November.  

Mrs Hughes deems exercise as one of her saviors through living with cancer, along with her husband Ty. 

In a post on Instagram – where her inspiring attitude has seen her accrue more than 300,000 followers – the brunette reveals that she was diagnosed with cancer on August 20, 2021.

Recalling the chain of events, she wrote: ‘I was holding my three-week old son in my arms, sitting next to my husband when my first oncologist said I have five years to live, likely three. My girls were five and two years old at the time.’

While she was completely bereft of hope in that moment, Mrs Hughes says the cancer has spurred her on to ‘just live,’ with her Instagram handle – @myjourneytojustlive – reflecting this. 

She adds: ‘What I didn’t realize then, and what I’ve come to know and understand, is my life was just beginning.

‘I was just given the gift to know my life may be cut shorter than most, and I knew that if I wanted to live, I needed to set myself up for success, stop sitting back and waiting to die.’

Mrs Hughes was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma called epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) that originates in the cells that line the blood vessels.

EHE – which has an incident rate of less than one million people in the US – is most commonly associated with young and middle-aged adults, and is more common in women.

One of the signs of EHE is a dry cough that causes difficulty breathing.

Other symptoms include a lump or swelling in the soft tissue of the body under the skin, and stomach pain along with weight loss if the disease is present in the liver.

A 2006 study of 434 people with EHE in the liver, found five-year survival rates of 55% in people who had liver transplants and 30% in people who had chemotherapy or radiation.

Two studies since then have shown even higher rates of survival for people who got liver transplants.

Mrs Hughes said she started noticing something was wrong when she was pregnant with her first daughter, Juliet, back in 2016.

She told Today.com that she developed an acute pain in the upper right side of her abdomen, and an ultrasound revealed a hemangioma (a benign tumor) on her liver.

While doctors didn’t said it wouldn’t trigger that type of pain, they said everything looked to be in order and they performed a follow-up scan a year later and again after she had another daughter, Adeline, via IVF.

Scans showed that the mass hadn’t grown, but Mrs Hughes said the pain got ‘significantly worse.’ 

Despite further investigation, doctors could still not get to the root of the matter. 

It was only after the premature birth of her son, Hatton, due to a ruptured placenta that Mrs Hughes’ condition took a turn for the worse. 

At the time, Mrs Hughes was living in Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories, but while on vacation visiting family on Prince Edward Island she collapsed. 

It was then that the cancer was detected and she never returned to Yellowknife. 

In an Instagram post, she reveals how her life was thrown into a spin: ‘We had plans to return home at the end of summer, after Hatton’s arrival.

But… we never made it back home. Literally. We remained on PEI, and Ty flew back alone, packed up our home along with friends and community members.

‘Our home was sold and a new family moved in to make their own memories.

‘The kids and I said goodbye to their rooms, beds, and toys via FaceTime. It may be one of the worst pains I ever experienced.’

Now the Hughes’ are based out of Prince Edward Island, where they help run regular events to raise cancer awareness. 

In terms of medication, Mrs Hughes stopped an experimental treatment she had been receiving in July at the advice of her doctor, as one of the uncomfortable side effects was painful mouth sores on her inner lips.

Now, she only takes anti-inflammatories for pain.

Touching on her newfound love of exercise, Mrs Hughes concludes: ‘When I rang in the New Year, knowing this 2024 was my three year cancerversary date,

‘I knew I had to do something life changing. I wanted to show myself, and our children another example of cancer not defining me.

‘I was going to choose hard, try something new and make myself feel very much alive.

‘So, I set a goal to become a triathlete, and that I did. I learned how to swim, and bike, increasing my distances with a sprint, to an Olympic distance.

‘And surprised my family on August 20 with running out of my diagnosing hospital’s doors and completing a half distance triathlon back to my summer home, straight into my children’s arms.

‘How this body that’s full of tumors from an ultra rare sarcoma cancer, can do what it does… I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. It’s a gift. A privilege.

‘To all my fellow cancer thrivers, survivors, conquerers and the ones that cancer stole, I do this for you. For us. I’m a triathlete now.’