In April 2024, Kamala was hospitalized for severe pain which a month ealier, initially thinking it was a bladder infection or cystitis and following advice, Kam had attempted to treat topically with castor oil. After several days alone, and in great pain, she made it to Emergency at Whangarei Hospital and a after 23 days and two surgeries later revealed life-changing, some could say devastating, news. The " bladder infection" was in fact two bilateral dermoid tumours of 15cm and 10cm wrapped around her ovaries, also known more accurately as " teratomas", and after urgent surgery in which the cancerous tumour was ruptured intraoperatively (this information was withheld) to remove them and do tissue tests, Kam was diagnosed with: " Ovarian Squamous Cell Carcinoma arising from mature teratoma"; a very rare and aggressive cancer. Not just a mouthful, but also misleading in name, this cancer is more akin to an internal skin cancer, more so than overtly related or limited to the ovaries.

Traumatically, only 48 hours after the first major surgery, Kamala was forced to undergo a second emergency surgery to remove a tangled drain that was internally wrapped around her insides and unable to be pulled out.

This shocking medical error is just the beginning of many!