MP Kiritapu Allan "got handed a bit of a new lease on life" after receiving the news on Thursday the first scan since undergoing treatment for stage 3 cervical cancer found no sign of residual cancer.
Reflecting about the call, the Conservation Minister said she did not understand what her radiation oncologist was saying, "cause I'd prepared for a very, very different outcome".
"I had absolutely not prepared for a good outcome, so my partner and I received the news, we were speechless."
Asked if she cried, Allan said she was "was too speechless at the time I didn't really know what was going on, and, if I'm really frank, shocked".
She said dealing with traumatic health issues was common for many families.
"They change your life. But yesterday I got handed a bit of a new lease on life and I'm incredibly grateful. I feel like I've been given a second bite of the cherry.
"I'm overwhelmed and really just grateful."
"I'm immeasurably grateful to all New Zealanders up and down the country, people from all over the world, have been invested in the journey and have offered so much love support wisdom and guidance to my family and I."
Allan said she did not anticipate "just how much stress I think I had had on me over, particularly coming into that first scan".
"People always talk about it, I thought I'd probably be exempt, but I was so exhausted after receiving the news. This morning I woke up, just before five with this incredible spring in my step, ready to crack in and crack on."
Allan on Friday was making the announcement of a widespread overhaul of New Zealand's conservation law.
The MP for the East Coast said on Thursday she would be tested every six months for five years, after which she can say her "chances of having that cancer are no longer likely".
She called the update a, “huge milestone for my family and I after a year that has been challenging for all, for so many reasons”.
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