Rach Mac was awaiting test results at a hospital following a car accident when a doctor asked her: “Have you ever had any trauma to your neck?”
The Perth mum-of-three had suffered a severe concussion and whiplash, but the doctor’s question probed deeper than the injuries she sustained that day.
WARNING: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.
“I thought her question was pretty odd,” she told 9news.com.au.
Mac is a domestic violence survivor who founded the DV charity Broken Crayons Still Colour after enduring years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her ex-partner.
“His go-to was to strangle me,” she said.
Despite fleeing her attacker, Mac learnt at the hospital that day that she had suffered devastating long-term health impacts from the abuse.
“The doctor told me, ‘I need you to make an urgent appointment with your GP, you have numerous lesions all over your thyroid, which would go hand-in-hand with so much trauma to your neck’,” she said.
After undergoing three biopsies, Mac tested positive for anaplastic thyroid cancer – an advanced and aggressive form of the disease.
The first question she asked her doctor was whether the diagnosis was related to her abuse.
“They said there’s always that chance,” Mac said.
“I’ve had so many strangulations from my abuser and it’s caused so much internal damage.”
Mac said she was told the repeated strangulation had caused her lymph nodes to “work overtime” and as a result “they completely calcified”.
“My neck is my biggest trigger,” she said.
“This has been the hardest thing to adjust to.”
Since learning of her diagnosis, Mac has been campaigning for further research on the long-term health effects of fatal non-strangulation.
She also wants to see hospitals conduct thorough neck examinations on patients who present with injuries after DV incidents.
“When I went to hospital and they were putting stitches in my face, I had broken ribs and everything else – I kept saying I can’t swallow properly, there’s something wrong with my neck,” she said.
At least a quarter of Australian women who have experienced coercive control have been subjected to non-fatal strangulation, according to healthcare education provider Healthed.
The effects of non-fatal strangulation can include, neurological symptoms, memory loss and carotid artery dissection.
It can increase the risk of homicide by seven times.
Dr Jason Schreiber, a forensic physician from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, told 9news.com.au there was still no established association between strangulation trauma and cancer.
“There is a very vague suspicion that thyroid trauma, via haematoma, may possibly be related to cancer but nothing is really confirmed,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber explained the main problem arising from strangulation is the brain’s under-supply of oxygen.
“In many cases of non-fatal strangulation, there are no other injuries to the neck identified, both externally on the skin or internally in the neck,” he said.
Schreiber said research was still being conducted into whether strangulation may cause other injuries and problems.
“I believe doctors and scientists are interested to find out more,” he said.
“However, cancer does not seem to be in the forefront.”
Last week, Mac had half of her thyroid removed, along with her lymph nodes, in a mammoth seven-hour operation.
Her voice is croaky and she struggles to speak, but she’s determined to finish the interview.
“Since I went public with my experience other women have come forward with troubles with their necks, their throats,” she said.
“And I think there needs to be more research done, that there can be other issues.”
