Believe In a Cause

"I’m not letting anything foreign get the better of me. I’m just determined I’m going to beat it."

When Viv was 59 years old she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two months earlier her daughter Rennell was also diagnosed with the disease. 

Viv had her first round of surgery only one month after a mammogram. Her instinct was to remove the whole breast but doctors encouraged her to just remove the lump.  Unfortunately, Viv was right. The first surgery was unsuccessful and she was returned to surgery for a mastectomy. Being new to the world of breast cancer Viv and her husband Errol felt they did not have enough information on the disease. This made decisions about what to do and what not to do very stressful. It was only later they realised Viv’s cancer was one of the less aggressive types.  

When Viv's daughter Rennell was found to have a much more aggressive form of breast cancer she felt it only natural to put her daughter first. Viv had already had two cancers removed from her neck and felt confident she would beat breast cancer.  “I thought ‘oh no not again, but I’ll be right- I’ve beat it twice I’ll beat it a third time’.” The intensity of that period however meant that Viv didn't properly grieve for the loss of her breast or have to time to work through what had happened to her. It was not until later when her two daughters sat her down she realised she had actually been through something dramatic and allowed herself to grieve. 

"I felt like a fraud, because I didn’t have chemo or radiation.  I felt I didn’t deserve to go to the Cancer Council’s Look Good Feel Good classes." Once Viv learnt to accept the support however, she found the classes were absolutely wonderful. Today Viv is fully recovered and radiant.  She lives each day to the fullest alongside her husband Errol and doesn’t sweat the small stuff.  She appreciates life more, feels more compassionate to others and has a stronger faith.  In Viv’s words, "the future is bright – very bright."

"I think life’s been a gift to me, I live it to the full".

Beth dealt with Lymphoma and lost one of her breast, yet she describes her journey as one of the easy ones. "I feel like a fraud because I’ve been through it and it happened so easily for me."

Beth had lost her mother and grandmother to breast cancer however in Beth’s case an early diagnosis and a cautious local doctor saved her life.  One G.P. dismissed Beth's mammogram but another sent her for further examination. Beth was grateful for the second opinion. "He ran a biopsy on it and the next morning he called and said ‘it’s definitely malignant I’ll operate at 2pm today'."

Within 24 hours of being diagnosed she had lost a breast. However, Beth was philosophical and never considered a reconstruction; "it’s a fact of life' she said 'and there’s nothing that I can’t do without it at my age."

Her husband Bryan found the situation more confronting. Beth and he have a close relationship and had not been apart for forty years. Since 1992 however Bev has been in remission. "I am so grateful for the wonderful doctors who looked after me at the time."

In 2008 however, Bryan was diagnosed with bladder cancer. "He got word nothing could be done for him because it had broken out around his throat." Beth believed that they had been fortunate having four years of living life to the full before the disease really started to affect him. In 2012 their house was flooded for the second time and Bryan made a promise to his priest not to die until Beth moved back home. He kept his word. Beth moved back on Saturday and he died Sunday morning. "I think we put our trust in God and just felt like he would do the right thing and he did."

At 81, Beth is a vibrant member of her church community with a strong network of family and friends. "I never made great plans for the future, I have just live each day as it comes and enjoyed life that way- and that’s what I’m still doing."

Beth still has a mammogram every year.

"If I’ve got to stop getting on with my life I may as well have let the cancer kill me."

Michelle lives on a property north of Injune. At 37 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, one year after finding a lump in her breast. Michelle's breast cancer was misdiagnosed by three separate doctors.

Michelle is a fit and accomplished polocrosse player and horse breeder. Seeing her on her property it’s almost impossible to tell how much damage her battle with cancer has done to her body. Chemotherapy has weakened one of her arms, damaged two of her ribs and one of her lungs. Michelle now needs to wear a dusk-mask. "You only go through treatment so you can keep going on with your life, so when people start saying ‘you can’t do this or you can’t do that’ I say, ‘find a way around it'."

Michelle does concede however that her mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation treatment were very difficult. During that time staff at Injune hospital referred to one room as "Michelle's Room"; an affectionate title but one indicative of what Michelle was going through. "You can hardly eat you can hardly breath, your mouth is that swollen all the time, it’s terrible ... That last shot of chemo, it took everybody to convince me to go in for it."

Despite the circumstances Michelle maintained strength for her family. On the day her son was playing for the Queensland polocrosse team Michelle moved between the hospital for radiation and the field to watch him play.

Michelle finished her treatment in 2009, 18 months after she was diagnosed.  She has been in remission ever since. She plays on the  Bauhinia polocrosse team with her husband Frank, her children and friends.

Michelle was recently selected for the Queensland State polocrosse team.

“It wasn’t that hard for me to lose a breast- it’s just a part of our body and we’re more than that.”

In early 2012 Reverend Linda was so busy with the flood recovery, the routine biopsy she’d had on a breast lump was the furthest thing from her mind. It was during this period, however— in the middle of a counselling session with a flood victim—that Linda's doctor called her to report bad news. Within a week Linda was having surgery. 

“I thought the surgeon would see me and it would be a couple of months before surgery but you don’t get that time."

Linda made the decision to get the whole breast removed as the lump was showing signs of becoming an aggressive cancer. Her husband—himself a melanoma survivor—supported her choice. 

“There’s this cultural shame and an expectation that a woman should keep both her breasts. It didn’t make sense to me. I don’t need the breast. I’m not going to have more children. My self-esteem isn’t tied to my body image.”

A year on, Linda is in remission. Although Linda is aware the cancer may return she finds comfort in her Christian faith. 

“I still have a bit of anxiety that I might have to go through surgery again. It’s not fear of death or dying, I have none of that … What happens, happens. Because of my faith in God I’m comfortable there’s more to the picture than meets the eye.”

“Always look on the bright side of life. Be positive.”

When Margaret was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989, she was living on Western Queensland cattle property 126 kms from the nearest phone. 

Margaret had first felt the lump in her breast over a year before she was diagnosed but her doctor had dismissed it. A year later she visited him again and he found the lump had grown and he asked her to go for an ultrasound and then more tests.

Margaret's results came back positive but getting the message to Margaret was difficult. A rain depression had hit western Queensland, making it impossible for her to drive the gravel road to the nearest phone in Boulia to collect her diagnosis. Fortunately, Father Terry Loth of the Longreach Aerial ministry offered Margaret a lift in his plane and she made the call. 

“What really floored me then was the doctor. After all this drama to get into the phone to find out the results, he didn’t mess around at all … He said ‘oh yes it’s a cancer and you’ll have to have a mastectomy’ as though that’s the sort of thing you have every day.”

A few days later she was in St Andrews hospital, Brisbane having the operation. Her family gathered around her, and Margaret said she was comforted by visits and letters of support from friends who had already been through cancer. Despite the overwhelming experience Margaret approached her diagnosis with a level-head.

“I just accepted it matter-of-factly and I had no thoughts of a reconstruction. I didn’t want another operation and luckily I had a husband who was supportive of my decision - he said ‘it’s your body’.”

Margaret’s advice to other women is to make sure you keep doing self-examinations and have regular mammograms.

“I think I was very, very fortunate to get away with it because I left it so long. I was just lucky it was a slow growing one not an aggressive cancer."

Margaret and her husband Tom now live on a property in Wallumbilla. She has been in remission for 24 years.

"One in two people are going to get cancer in Australia in their lifetime, and don't think it's not going to happen to you.”

There’s a glint in Gail’s eyes which tells you she’s tough. Over the past 18 years she has had three rounds of "terminal" breast cancer and survived. The experience has taught her to live in the present, never looking too far into the future and planning in three-month blocks. Gail was first diagnosed in 1995 when she was living in Katherine in the Northern Territory when she was 40.

"I’d had a lump for ages but I had my own physio practice where I was working 24 hours, seven days a week."

She lived more than 300km from her GP who she visited once a year. When the doctor saw the lump, she sent Gail for a check-up.

"She didn’t like what she saw so she got me into radiology immediately. In those days it took ten days of waiting on tenterhooks to get a diagnosis.” 

On the day she should have been celebrating her 40th birthday, Gail received a positive cancer diagnosis.

"I didn't know any younger women who had had breast cancer. I knew a lot of older women who had had it, and some of them had died very nasty deaths with no support and delayed treatment.”

None of Gail’s doctors informed her she had a chance of surviving- she thought the diagnosis was a death sentence. 

"I thought it was very unfair because I thought I was too young to die. But after about two years I realised I was probably going to live a little bit longer.”  

The treatment was grueling and meant hours of travelling to Darwin and  Brisbane for radiology. The financial pressure of her multiple battles with cancer has been enormous.

"The last time I was off work for 12 months in 2011, it cost me $90,000 for loss of income and treatment expenses."

Since being diagnosis Gail has spent a lot of time combing through cancer research from all over the world.

“This is the stuff your doctor probably won’t tell you. If you’ve been diagnosed and want to improve your chances then don’t smoke, or if you do stop NOW, exercise for at least 150 minutes a week, cut down on red meat and dairy and increase your intake of fruit and vegetables- especially the green leafy ones.”

"There was a time when all my hair had fallen out, I wasn't getting my period and I had lost my breast, I just felt I'd lost my femininity.”

It’s unexpected to hear someone say they feel lucky to have had cancer, but that's Jen is the eternal optimist. Jen was just 21 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Her diagnosis was a shock for her, her family and even her doctors. She was young and had no family history. One of her doctors described it as "being struck by lightning, a one in a million chance."

Jen first felt a lump in her breast in January 2007, but she dismissed it.

"There was no chance cancer crossed my mind at that stage and I forgot about it."

A month later she noticed it again. Jen asked her mum and boyfriend Che for a second opinion and they could feel it too. Jen's mum told her she to see a GP.

"Every medical professional I saw, and there were over ten of them, told me I shouldn't be too worried, but fortunately every single one of them referred me on 'just in case'."

Incredibly the lump she first felt was a normal part of her breast and had nothing to do with the cancer the doctors did eventually find.

"Someone must have been looking out for me."

The cancer was diagnosed as non-invasive and the doctors told her she would need a mastectomy and a breast reconstruction.

"I was obviously in shock, but the doctor said to me you'll have surgery, they'll get it out and you'll be right to go."

But there was more bad news to come.

"After the operation I went in for a doctor's consultation which I thought would be my last appointment. The doctor came out and said I'm really sorry, but it is invasive cancer."

Not only was the diagnosis daunting, but Jen was told treatment would cost over $75,000. Due to incredible support however— from some good friends who were willing to shave off their hair, supportive companies, the Hamilton community, her family and her boyfriend Che—Jen managed to raise all of the money. Jen said keeping positive and the help of her family was what got her through.

"Che stood by me the whole way and my mum was just amazing, she came to every single appointment with me." 

There were however some hard times. Especially when Jen found out the chemo might make her infertile.

"There was a time when all my hair had fallen out, I wasn't getting my period and had lost my breast, I just felt I'd lost my femininity … Che was amazing though, and once said 'it's ok babe, there are worse things to lose than a breast and we are going to get through it'."

Jen said one of the best things about her cancer journey was the inspiring people she met along the way, including a group of young women she mentored through cancer.

"I thought if I got cancer and could help other people through their journeys then it must have happened for a reason."

Jen and Che got married in February and have just had their first baby. 

"Just be aware. It isn’t an old person’s disease."

When Rennell first learnt she had a lump in her breast, she kept it a secret from her family and friends.  Aged 30 Rennell went to her doctor. After a two-week waiting period she faced tests and biopsies without any support until a family friend found her crying the carpark of the Marter Hospital.

The cancer was aggressive and Rennell was scheduled for surgery.  She received chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation.  After the third round of chemo things became traumatic. 

“I didn’t want to go to sleep in case I didn’t wake up.” 

As a teacher at a boarding school, Rennell found solace in talking with her students, helping them understand more about breast cancer and supporting one girl whose mothers had also been diagnosed. Sadly, her fellow teachers were not very understanding of her battle.

“I got more support from my students than I did from the staff … I hated the term ‘keep positive’… if someone said that to me one more time I was going slap them.”

She also found it was sometimes difficult to relate to older women who had the disease and didn’t understand how hard it was for her to lose her hair.

“They thought it was rather shallow to care about your body, but here I was young and single thinking will I find someone to marry, will I have kids?”

Rennell's advice to other young women going through cancer is that “it’s OK to cry, it’s OK to rant and rave and get it all out”.

These days she is making the best of it, trying to use her situation to help other women. She is currently part of a five year clinical trial where researchers are trying to find what the best cancer-treatment for younger women.