For 20 years, nurse practitioner Becky Topham has been the one tending to patients in need.

Now, the 44-year-old mother of two from Poland finds herself on the other side of the hospital bed, facing a diagnosis so rare that only 300 people are affected each year.

Topham is battling Extramammary Paget’s Disease (EMPD), an aggressive form of skin cancer that often goes misdiagnosed in its early stages. What she thought was a mild but nagging skin issue eventually led to a biopsy, and in May, doctors confirmed the diagnosis.