FEATURE news; both lumps are cancerous and at an advanced stage, so we need to get you in to see a surgeon straightaway. So I went in and met my team, which included my surgeon, oncologist, and radiologist. They all work together to review their patients weekly when treating patients with advanced cancer. The first thing the surgeon said to me was, "because of your age, and before I even look at this further, I'm just going to tell you you're going to be whacked. You're absolutely going to be whacked. So be prepared for a year of your life to be about cancer." I underwent a bilateral lumpectomy as opposed to a mastectomy, followed by six months of chemotherapy and six weeks of daily radiation therapy. How did I decide between lumpectomy and mastectomy? I asked the doctor if I was your wife, what would you advise me to do? I had my first chemo treatment on our wedding anniversary. The thing that people don't realise is that there are many different types of chemo drugs. I started with the bad stuff first on a three- week rotation. They can almost pinpoint the day when you are going to lose your hair; Darren got the task of shaving my head. The chemo knocks you around a lot; you have a bad week, then a medium week, then a good week, and then you start it all again. During that time, I was still running the business with Darren. We were fortunate in that we had an excellent team, and I could take the time I needed when I needed it and then go back to work, work from home, and do whatever I needed to do, but I think for the team, it was quite a shock. I never got angry about what was happening, of course I had my ‘sad’ moments, but given that cancer was affecting so many lives, why wouldn’t it happen to me? I think this attitude helped me get on with the journey. Also, the fact that you know your plan. You've met with the doctors, and you know what your oncology will do; you know everything that lies in front of you. So, for me, it was wake up every morning, tick the box, and get through it. So once all the chemo and radiotherapy was done, it was sort of weird to go what next? Given my age and the fact that my cancer was hormonally based, I’ve been on three or four different drugs over the past 7 years. Many people don’t realise that the drugs you take afterwards are up to 50% of your whole treatment plan. Many people think you’ve had your chemo and radiation, so you’re done. However the drugs are essential to your overall treatment. When the decision is made to finish taking any further medication it can cause anxiety amongst many cancer patients. However, I think mentally I had decided I was ready to move on, so this luckily hasn’t affected me too much. If there is one good thing that came out of my cancer journey, is it reminds you of how loved you are. You don’t obviously seek that reminder in life, but I got imagemagazine.com.au 15
