Thurgoona's Nikki Scott told she had diabetes, months later it was cancer

What she was told was diabetes instead was revealed months later to be an aggressive cancer.

The mother of two said the diagnosis came out of nowhere, as she had otherwise thought there wasn't anything serious.

"I always had good health," she said.

"I had no idea that the reason I wasn't feeling well was because I had pancreatic cancer."

Ms Scott said when she was told of the diabetes prognosis she just didn't know it was the early signs of her cancer.

"I didn't really understand; I wish I had but didn't," she said.

"My sugar levels were high, everything was out of control, so they (the doctors) put me on medication and sent me home.

"Everything was fine for about a month and half, because I changed my diet completely and went full on low carb.

"After a while everything seemed to go back to normal."

But Ms Scott said the uneasy feeling came back and so she went to the Albury hospital emergency department three times, only to be told nothing was wrong.

It left her deflated.

"They were testing everything under the sun, everything except what they should have been testing," she said.

"Eventually they did a CT scan and that's when they found a 3.7cm mass on my pancreas.

"I was sent down to a Melbourne hospital for more scans and was told of the formal diagnosis."

Ms Scott said when she heard the news she remained calm and positive.

"Of course I know it's a possibility of it being life threatening," she said.

"But I quickly shifted my thoughts because I know it happened for a reason".

Ms Scott said while there was no point dwelling on the results because it wouldn't add anything positive to the outcome; she was going to try to defy the odds by changing her lifestyle by only eating organic foods.

"It's pointless stressing about it," she said.

She had only several months earlier set up her new videographer business, and said it was disappointing she had had to stop for now but hoped one day she could pick it up again.

Ms Scott's about to embark on her sixth round of chemotherapy, something she said she didn't wish upon anyone.

"It's been horrendous," she said.

Ms Scott said the hardest part of having cancer was losing friends, that "you sure do find out who your true friends are".

But she was greatly appreciative of the support provided by her children, who shared her home.

Although she was unsure of how much time she had left, she said that she was setting goals and taking each day as it came.

"I've made a point out of not knowing how much time I have left, because what's the purpose? I don't want to have an expiry date put on me," she said.

Ms Scott's message to the community would be to not ignore any symptoms when you feel unwell and to tell doctors you want to test the worst outcome first.

"If the doctors had tested the worst scenario first, it would have saved me months of time not knowing what it was," she said.

Anyone who would like to support Ms Scott or donate to help with added costs can do so by emailing her on Nikkiscott2511@gmail.com.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: