Donna, a survivor of breast cancer Your mum is 12,000 kilometres away, you have a toddler, a tiny baby and you’ve just been told you have breast cancer . . . … where do you turn for help? This is where young mum Donna found herself when she was diagnosed with breast cancer early last year. Just weeks after her baby boy Hudson arrived safely she found a distinct lump in her breast and asked her GP about it. She was assured, ‘Everything should be fine…it’s probably a blocked milk duct.’ But the doctor sent her for an ultrasound just to be sure.
I was so overwhelmed I didn’t know what to do. Then a friend of mine sent me the link to Breast Cancer Care WA. I sent an email straight away. I heard back from Moira, a breast care nurse who arranged to come and see me within a few days.
A week later Donna was given the terrifying diagnosis - triple negative breast cancer. She had just six days to wean her breastfeeding baby before surgery and the whirlwind of gruelling cancer treatment began.
Moira was fantastic, giving me lots of information and guidance prior to my surgery. She also put me in touch with a lady who had been through the same experience.
“I remember the ultrasound examination like it was yesterday. I could just tell something wasn’t right by the sonographer’s body language. He was biting his lip and kept going over the same area again and again. Then I heard those frightening words, “Is anyone with you?” A week later I found myself sitting in my surgeon’s office being told “It’s breast cancer”. It was the last thing I expected at 33. I had a 14 week old who was breastfeeding, a 3 year old who had just started kindy and my hubby had just started a new job so the timing was terrible. Although I had the support of my in-laws all my family were still living in the UK so I felt awfully homesick.
It all happened so fast, I was operated on within a week. I had a mastectomy and full axillary clearance. The hardest thing for me was the 7 night stay in hospital, having my boys visit me and then go home again leaving me alone and my mum being so far away. Following surgery I faced 8 sessions of chemo once a fortnight and then 5 weeks of radiotherapy. Then, even before my treatment was completed, I was hit with another bombshell in September. My dear mum was diagnosed with lung cancer and died just six weeks later. I was completely devastated. My counsellor Aileen from Breast Cancer Care WA really has a heart of gold, always showing me such compassion and empathy. She’s been there for me in person, on the phone or email providing emotional support, coping strategies and a shoulder to cry on, often crying together with me. Thank goodness for this great charity, which made such a difference to my family in 2014. Thank you to everyone who supports Breast Cancer Care WA, I don’t know how I would have made it without them!” Every year we are seeing more and more people just like Donna, of all ages facing the battle of breast cancer. All the support we provide to them is free of charge. But that support is limited to the funds we have on hand from the donations we receive from our supporters. Nobody deserves the pain, stress and worry that breast cancer brings. They deserve all the emotional, practical and financial support, pampering, care and friendship
To donate today, please visit www.breastcancer.org.au or phone (08) 9324 3703.