Amanda Niebergall started 2020 with a big party, celebrating her 32nd birthday with friends and family.

The Regina woman then delivered a keynote speech at the Summit to Eliminate Cervical Cancer in Toronto, celebrating more than a year cancer-free.

“I came back and everything was going quite swimmingly, I thought, for this year and then my dad was diagnosed at the end of January, beginning of February,” she said.

Her 65-year-old father, Glenn, was diagnosed with neck and throat cancer. Around that time, Niebergall’s recent scans came back, showing what she called “some weirdness.”

“I wanted to pursue it further so I really pushed to the ministry to get my PET scan done and it showed my cancer had also come back,” she said.

The cervical cancer had metastasized in her neck and lymphnodes.

“If you feel something is wrong, push and get those tests. If you need a second opinion, get a second opinion.”

With their diagnoses so close together, Niebergall and her father started chemo at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre a day apart — the same week Saskatchewan imposed public health measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Since hospital visitors were no longer allowed, Niebergall decided to move in with her dad so she could help him while self-isolating together.

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