They even had surgery the same day, and both looked forward to getting on with life when their treatment finished in mid-2014.
But now the two Dunedin women are in very different positions - Mrs Short (44) is fundraising to help Mrs Dobson (33) pay for intravenous vitamin C treatment to fight secondary cancer in her kidney and liver.
Mrs Dobson's cancer returned aggressively last year. She would wait for a break in her chemotherapy regime before starting the vitamin C treatment.
Her goal was to keep the cancer at bay for as long as possible: barring a miracle, the cancer was incurable, she said.
With son Tristan (3) to care for, everyday life had become hard and sometimes the only thing that got her going was her little boy, she said.
Husband Stephen was very supportive, and having Mrs Short's friendship meant Mrs Dobson had someone who understood what she was going through.
She is responding to the chemotherapy - the tumour in her kidney had shrunk from 7cm to 5cm. She hoped the vitamin C treatment would supplement the gains from the chemotherapy.
‘‘I know it doesn't work for everyone, but I'm hoping it will work for me,'' she said.
In an interview yesterday, Mrs Short was in tears when speaking about her younger friend's illness. It had been devastating to see the cancer return.
‘‘That's just a little thing I could do for her,'' she said, of setting up the online fundraising page for her friend.
● givealittle.co.nz/cause/vitamincforlisad
