she told news.com.au<\/a> in April that motherhood has been the reason she\u2019s been able to get through each day.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m probably the most maternal person you\u2019ve ever met,\u201d Finlayson admits, noting that it was something she always knew she was born to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cSophia has been the main reason I\u2019ve been able to persevere over the past five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old said she simply has \u201cno choice\u201d but to face the day, despite the exhaustion of her diagnosis, because her four-year-old daughter refuses to let her stay in bed. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she asks me to play with her, I simply can\u2019t say \u2018no\u2019, because she\u2019s just this beautiful, innocent little girl who just wants her mummy,\u201d Finlayson shared.<\/p>\n
She confessed that she initially brushed off \u201csevere constipation and abdominal cramps\u201d, assuming they were irritable bowel syndrome or post-partum symptoms.<\/p>\n
Even when a colonoscopy was finally scheduled in 2020, Covid lockdowns caused further delays and cancelled appointments.<\/p>\n
By the time she was finally diagnosed in 2021, the disease had already spread throughout her body.<\/p>\n
She was told on Boxing Day 2022 that the bowel cancer she\u2019d been fighting had metastasised to her lungs.<\/p>\n
Her oncologist at the time recommended palliative care \u2014 a suggestion that initially led the couple to cancel their elaborate wedding.<\/p>\n
But despite all odds, they found a new oncologist who prioritised quality of life, and moved their wedding forward to a low-key ceremony in March 2023.<\/p>\n
Now, her public life is driven by her positivity, as well as her mission to advocate for young Aussies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system still dismisses young people every single day, and it\u2019s not good enough. It\u2019s failing young people,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n
Bowel cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer death for Australians aged 25 to 54, claiming more than 5300 lives annually.<\/p>\n
Because symptoms can often mimic standard hormonal changes, Finlayson\u2019s mission is to help women understand their bodies and advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important that we, especially as young females, understand what \u2018normal\u2019 is for us, because bowel cancer symptoms can be quite similar to a menstrual cycle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In 2024 she said: \u201cI want to make sure that I\u2019m alive for a reason \u2026 if I\u2019m alive, I might as well live.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m living on borrowed time. I need to make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy Finlayson played 128 games in his AFL career, which came to an end at the conclusion of the 2025 season when he was delisted by Port Adelaide.<\/p>\n
He spent five seasons at the GWS Giants and four years at the Power. <\/p>\n
Originally published as \u2018Chronically sick\u2019 AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson gives insight into cancer battle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson has given an insight into her life as a \u201cchronically sick girlie\u201d as she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":927022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[385344,494303,494326,47025,256328,25668,494332,494310,494346,494315,494319,494334,494351,494338,494347,399157,382793,409599,494350,473497,376594,494345,41811,638,494342,494357,494352,382524,494339,376965,494294,494301,9356,64,63,55,639,9461,55751,28266,268118,60346,494343,494298,494324,1617,32549,348685,16780,494297,343037,390524,419718,494344,387063,494317,494302,260185,494307,494329,413938,494359,379006,423109,385282,494325,390932,494337,483441,494335,424464,494314,494320,494358,494336,442122,494312,460957,494304,21962,1202,494318,49784,494341,494340,8280,173535,349669,401893,17357,494296,494316,494353,494333,46357,494306,461665,381654,402656,37473,494327,29560,494355,494308,47894,494349,494348,1314,165701,85,47867,494328,22193,494311,494321,494323,494305,494299,381215,386419,378599,379738,396807,494356,494330,494313,418923,376974,117951,494331,494354,392951,376521,377171,103578,376539,376738,430669,494300,494309,403294,22637,385522,4048,28333,308103,12632,423514,494322,28539,494295],"class_list":["post-927021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-the-30-year-old","tag-s-mission","tag-128-games","tag-47025","tag-256328","tag-25668","tag-25-to-54","tag-a-chronically-sick-girlie","tag-a-breathing-tube","tag-a-colonoscopy","tag-a-hydrogen-breathing-machine","tag-a-low-key-ceremony","tag-a-menstrual-cycle","tag-a-new-oncologist","tag-a-qa","tag-a-reason","tag-a-second","tag-a-suggestion","tag-a-terminal-diagnosis","tag-a-tuesday","tag-a-video","tag-abdominal-cramps","tag-advocate","tag-afl","tag-afl-wag-kellie-finlayson","tag-all-odds","tag-almost-80-rounds","tag-an-end","tag-an-ex-afl-player","tag-an-insight","tag-another-the-spouse","tag-appointments-by","tag-april","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-australians","tag-bed","tag-borrowed-time","tag-bowel","tag-bowel-cancer","tag-bowel-cancer-symptoms","tag-boxing-day-2022","tag-brave-girl","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-battle","tag-cancer-death","tag-chemotherapy","tag-chronically-sick","tag-covid-lockdowns","tag-each-day","tag-every-single-day","tag-finlayson","tag-five-seasons","tag-former-afl-player-jeremy-finlayson","tag-four-terminal-bowel-cancer","tag-four-years","tag-funny-buggers","tag-further-delays","tag-her-battle","tag-her-body-she","tag-her-daughter","tag-her-diagnosis","tag-her-followers","tag-her-four-year-old-daughter","tag-her-life","tag-her-lungs-her-oncologist","tag-her-mission","tag-her-mummy","tag-her-nose","tag-her-ongoing-battle-the-update","tag-her-ongoing-health-battle","tag-her-positivity","tag-her-public-life","tag-her-stay","tag-her-treatment-journey","tag-his-afl-career","tag-innocent-little-girl","tag-insight","tag-instagram","tag-irritable-bowel-syndrome-or","tag-jeremy-finlayson","tag-kellie","tag-la-rams-finlayson","tag-life","tag-liver-failure","tag-lol","tag-lots","tag-love","tag-march-2023-now","tag-medical-terms","tag-monday-night-footy","tag-more-than-5300-lives","tag-motherhood","tag-my-fantasy-league","tag-my-liver","tag-news-com-au","tag-no-choice","tag-one-person","tag-only-25","tag-palliative-care","tag-port-adelaide-he","tag-post-partum-symptoms-even","tag-quality","tag-raw-update","tag-severe-constipation-and","tag-social-media","tag-sophia","tag-sports","tag-stage","tag-standard-hormonal-changes","tag-symptoms","tag-the-2025-season","tag-the-afl-star","tag-the-bowel-cancer","tag-the-buffalo-bills","tag-the-cancer-warrior-wife","tag-the-comments","tag-the-conclusion","tag-the-couple","tag-the-day","tag-the-disease","tag-the-exhaustion","tag-the-gruelling-reality","tag-the-gws-giants","tag-the-leading-cause","tag-the-main-reason","tag-the-most","tag-the-most-maternal-person","tag-the-nfl-game","tag-the-past-five-years","tag-the-power","tag-the-reason","tag-the-system","tag-the-time","tag-the-video","tag-the-wife","tag-their-bodies-and-advocate","tag-their-elaborate-wedding-but","tag-their-wedding","tag-thinking","tag-this-beautiful","tag-top","tag-tuesday","tag-wag","tag-women","tag-young-aussies","tag-young-females","tag-young-people","tag-your-strength"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}