After seven rounds of chemotherapy, over 20 blood transfusions and a stem cell replacement, Mrs Hardy is in remission and starting to see a sliver of light at the end of a long dark tunnel.
Her shock diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) came last September, a day after her daughter’s fourth birthday. Aalay is now 5 and her son Koby, is 7.
"It’s been a tough year all round really. It’s all been low to be honest, it has been tough since the beginning and there haven’t been too many positives."
Her need to be in or near Dunedin Hospital during treatment, meant she had to undergo chemotherapy while her husband Shaun and their children, stayed living in Wānaka. The family travelled to the city on weekends and visited her at a place Mrs Hardy’s parents rented in Dunedin. But looking back on the isolation, she doesn’t know how she survived it.
Mrs Hardy describes the eight-week-long stints in Dunedin under heavy treatment as "hell". She felt alone, frightened and "in a dark tunnel not knowing which way was out."
Given the family had a plumbing business to run and a mortgage to pay, the couple made the decision for the family to travel over weekends with the children, and back to school during the week for normality sakes.
"You never know what way is the right way when something like this happens, when really, I needed them there the whole time. You are just trying to survive."
She felt further deflated when in January, her stem cell donor fell through because they failed a required second medical test. Mrs Hardy has a rare genetic mutation that would require her to go into remission and then receive stem cell treatment
if she were to have any chance of survival.
A donor was so hard to find. "Many people don’t know they can be a donor, people know they can donate blood, which is a must."
Mrs Hardy wanted people to know they can fill out their name on the register to be a stem cell donor with any NZ Blood service facility or doctor.
Finally in April, a 75% match stem cell donor was found in Germany, and she was able to receive that quickly. Most remarkably, 100% of the stem cells have engrafted to her body, a success.
"That is bloody good news"
"I am in remission but you never know what is around the corner with blood cancer, but as far as I am concerned I am cancer free."
News she needed, after watching her body change, her hair fall out, and life test her to the limit.
"That is when you really learn to respect and love yourself.
"All that positive reinforcement around you and having positive people and shutting out any kind of toxicity. When something like this happens in life, if there is any toxicity in your life it presents itself and you remove it."
She urges others not to ignore the warning signs like she had. She said the body usually gives off signs, that we are all guilty of ignoring.
"You can get so busy with life, especially in Wānaka, there is this constant hustle and bustle, never stopping, you are constantly working and constantly on the grind."
Things have been on the up for the Hardys. The family has relocated to Christchurch, bought a new home and Mrs Hardy could be back at work as an interior designer within a year.
"I knew I needed everyone here for me, I just knew I did for me to be able to heal.
"Having family around you is healing. It is one of the best drugs around, having love and support."
The 31-year-old is seeing this as a fresh start and an opportunity to change the way she lives life.
"There is a silver lining in everything and I have taken positives out of this experience. It puts a lot of perspective on what’s important.
"It is important having your family around you and making those moments count, because it can all be taken away from you, in a sentence."
