Three months ago, thyroid cancer threatened to keep Amber Wong from what she loves most: being in the ocean.

But not even lingering pain from surgery to remove the cancer or a looming radiation treatment could keep the 20-year-old from jumping in the water this week.

"I don't really have time to be sad about it," she said, between a blood test and hitting Ala Moana Bowls with her bodyboard on Wednesday. "I have other things going on in my life and this can't interfere."

Wong's friends will hold a fundraiser for her tomorrow in Hawai'i Kai to help pay for her medical expenses.

The free event will include pupu, live music and a fashion show featuring local swimwear company Honey Girl, for which she is a spokeswoman.

Wong, a third-year nursing student at Hawai'i Pacific University, said she had felt the lump on her neck for years, but didn't think much of it until she visited a doctor in January.

About 95 percent of solid or fluid-filled nodules that develop in the thyroid gland are benign, but a small number are cancerous — unfortunately what her lump turned out to be.

After receiving the news, she left the hospital stunned.

"I'm a pretty healthy person," she said. "So to find out that I had something like cancer, it was a shocker."

Every year more than 5,000 people in Hawai'i are diagnosed with some form of cancer, according to the Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i. Thyroid cancer is among the 10 most common types of cancer, but has a higher recovery rate than other forms of the disease like lung or breast cancer.

Women are also two to three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than are men.

Honey Girl owner Louisa Ngum said tomorrow's event is to help Wong with both financial and emotional support as she prepares for several days of radiation isolation and treatment this month.

Wong has been unable to work since the surgery and is a full-time student at HPU. She also will need to take medication for the rest of her life.

"She's not your typical girl," Ngum said. "There's something a little more special about her in the way she interacts with other people. ... She's a good role model for other kids."

Wong is recovering quickly and is tackling a pile of makeup schoolwork. She also is bodyboarding about an hour a day, as opposed to her regular three or four. Her doctor has advised her to wait before resuming her other hobby: martial arts.

She said the experience has given her a greater appreciation for the field of nursing.

"I really got a whole new outlook on it," she said. "Other than getting poked every six hours, it was a good experience."

She's also looking forward to being finished with the treatment and going back to doing the activities she loves.

"I know the waves are always going to be there, and I know my health comes first," she said. "But it's good to jump back in the water for sure."