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FEATURE – Shining the spotlight on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and one Sunshine Coast mum’s raw reality stands as a reminder to all women that regular self-examinations and free screenings are saving lives through early detection. WORDS: Candice Holznagel PHOTOS: Megan Gill Portrait
The statistics are confronting. One-in-seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
One-in-34 women will die from the disease. But there is so much more to breast cancer than the statistics – there are the faces behind those numbers.
They are our mothers, daughters, aunts, teachers and friends. Everyday people who, given no choice, are thrown into a fight for their survival.
“Stay positive. It’s your positive attitude that will beat it – that’s the worst saying in the world. I should cry. I should think ‘this is shitty’. You need to be realistic about it and allow yourself to grieve. I need to grieve the life I once had, the options I once had, the friends I once had.”
Meet Michelle Acworth. She is 42. A wife, and mum to two boys aged 10 and 12.
She faces her reality head on with endless strength and courage.
A conversation with Michelle is like a breath of fresh air. She is vibrant, joyful and yet so very open and matter of fact about living life with breast cancer.
“The biggest thing I have learnt on this journey is about letting go of control,” she tells My Weekly Preview.
“Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It does what it wants to do. You have control over your treatment and doctors, but there are so many things you can’t control. So, I am learning to balance that by choosing where to put my energy.
“I can’t control what the cancer is doing, but I can control my funeral arrangements. I can’t control my hair loss, but I can control the headwear I wear.”
Last month, Michelle’s raw and honest approach to living with cancer captured the hearts of 800 people as she stood on stage at the Wishlist Spring Carnival to share her story and raise awareness of not only breast cancer, but also Sunshine Coast charity Wishlist, which supports patients with a range of illnesses and their families. “I was you at this event, in my party dress, glass of wine in hand, having a laugh and taking selfies,” she told her audience.
“I’ve been to the Wishlist Spring Carnival helping out for the last six years.
“This is my favourite event and I love nothing more than supporting Wishlist but this time last year, I was here when I got the call: ‘The breast surgeon needs to see you urgently: you have cancer’.
“On November 8, my husband and I walked into the doctor’s office to be told I have triple-negative breast cancer. It was early stage, but very aggressive. So aggressive that the oncologist came in from his holidays to see me the very next day.
Michelle says it was the unwavering support of her surgeon Dr Lisa Creighton, oncologist Dr Brenton Seidl and the team of nurses at Sunshine Coast Haematology and Oncology Clinic, as well as her psychologist and allied health professionals, that got her through.
“After six months of intense chemo, including four rounds of red devil chemo (doxorubicin), surgery and six weeks of daily radiation (because I’m young I got bonus rounds), I’m still fighting the fight.”
She adds with a dry laugh: “I’ve had a few blood transfusions thrown in as a bonus. The type of cancer I have responds really well to chemo so the chemo actually shrunk the tumour by 80 per cent.
“[Surgeon] Lisa removed the remaining tumour and 18 lymph nodes. There was still active cancer cells, which meant the chemo hadn’t killed it all off.”
Thankfully, the cancer was contained to its original site.
“I am now undertaking eight rounds of oral chemo. I take it at home twice a day for 14 days straight and then have seven days off. I’m doing that until the end of February.
“It’s not as easy as IV chemo. It’s harder
“Before I knew it, I was in theatre getting my port surgically inserted in my chest, ready for treatment. Ten days of tests, scans, chemo education, communicating with family, friends and colleagues was physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting. But I kept telling myself ‘I’m young. I’m 41. I can do this. I’ll be right’.
“I wanted my two young boys to see their mum being strong and thriving. This wasn’t going to knock me down. No way.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Most breast cancers (95 per cent) occur in women with no family history of breast cancer.
when you are isolating at home. When you are taking it at home, I have to physically pop these pills in my mouth.”
The good news is that Michelle’s tumour count currently sits at zero. At her diagnosis, it was exceptionally high.
“I’m still anxious as it’s always in your mind,” she says.
“People say, ‘What’s your five-year plan?’ I just want to make five years. I’m hoping for the best. You have got to have hope. You have got to have something.”
As Australia recognises October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, what Michelle really wants people to know is how much a smile and a ‘thinking of you’ message can make all the difference to someone living with cancer.
“What I didn’t realise was how hard it would be when alone: that time between appointments and treatments when you go home and everyone’s back at work or school,” she says.
“This was the time I started questioning everything, especially my mortality. What I’ve learned along the way is, you can’t do it alone. Even the most-independent, strong person needs support.
“More importantly, everyone is entitled to that support – whatever that may look like.
“People don’t know what to say, but just staying in contact with me is enough. Send me a smiley face emoji every now and then and a ‘thinking of you’.” New statistics showing an increase in breast cancer numbers confirm the need for continued research into the disease.
The latest figures from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare estimates that 20,428 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, compared with an estimated 19,866 women in 2021. About 212 men will be diagnosed in 2022.
While the figures are increasing, improved screening techniques and treatments mean fewer people are dying from the disease. The five-year survival rate for women diagnosed with breast cancer is 91.8 per cent, and 86.5 per cent for men.
Without clinical research, such as that conducted by Australian organisation Breast Cancer Trials (BCT), this wouldn’t be possible. The work conducted by the group of world-leading breast cancer doctors and researchers has led to preventions and treatments including life-saving drugs such as Tamoxifen and Herceptin.
Sunshine Coast breast cancer patient Michelle Acworth says the Australian Government needs to throw more weight behind trials and provide access to drugs that are proving to be successful overseas.
“We need to be more open to the ideas of clinical trials and treatments. Why should we wait? My poor children. I want to do something now, I want to be proactive.
“The number of Australians getting cancer is only going to increase and it’s such a heavy cost on the health system.
“With more preventative and smarter treatment options, we can save a lot of lives and a lot of money.”
Michelle is working alongside fellow breast cancer patient and campaigner Alison Day to raise awareness of alternative treatments. Ali made headlines this year after fighting to have the drug Trodelvy, which is proven to extend the life of patients, approved for use in stage four triple-negative breast cancer cases. She is now campaigning to have the drug subsidised and trialled on stage three sufferers, such as Michelle. “There are two drugs saving and extending the lives of women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in the USA and in other countries but we don’t have access to either,” Michelle says.
“A drug has been FDA approved in the United States called Enhertu. It was created for women with a type of breast cancer called HER2. Women with HER2 cancer survive in greater numbers than women with TNBC because, a decade ago, a drug called Herceptin was created and the drug saved literally millions of lives.
“Euhertu is a drug that helps TNBC patients with what is called HER2 low expression. That means patients like myself have tiny traces of HER 2 receptors but it’s below the normal threshold level.
“The second drug is called Dato DXD and it’s a bit like Trodelvy, but the kicker is trial data shows it has less side effects than Trodelvy and it’s more effective.”
Michelle says people can write to their local politician to support the cause.
Get checked
Have you noticed any changes to your breasts? Breast screening is not for women who have seen or felt any changes to their breasts. If you’ve noticed any breast changes that concern you, you should talk to your doctor before you book an appointment. There may be other tests that are more appropriate for you.
BreastScreen Queensland provides free breast cancer screening for women, 40 years and over, who haven’t noticed any changes.
No doctor’s referral is required, and appointments take less than 30 minutes.
Women under 40 are encouraged to self-examine and speak with their doctor about concerns or early detection screening tests such as ultrasound.
Breast self-exams are not proven to be a good alternative to regular breast screens and changes that should be investigated by your doctor include: • a new lump or lumpiness, especially if it’s only in one breast • a change in the size or shape or your breast • a change to the nipple such as crusting or redness, or the nipple is pulled in • nipple discharge (liquid comes out of the nipple) that occurs without squeezing the nipple • a change in the skin of your breast such as redness, puckering (pulling in) or dimpling (like orange peel) • an unusual pain that doesn’t go away.
For more, visit breastscreen.qld.gov. au/should-i-screen. For a BreastScreen Queensland booking, phone 13 20 50 or visit breastscreen.qld.gov.au The role of genetics
The cause of Michelle’s cancer is environmental, not genetic. About only five to 10 per cent of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary. Information from BCT says the most commonly inherited gene mutations are known as the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.
BCT is recruiting participants for its world-first prevention trial called BRCA-P, which aims to prevent breast cancer in women who carry the BRCA1 gene mutation. There is also the OlympiA clinical trial, which recently found that treatment with Olaparib reduces deaths by 32 per cent and reduces recurrence by 42 per cent, in patients with an inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation.
BCT is hosting a free online Q & A breast cancer and genetics event on October 24 at 5pm. Led by journalist Annabel Crabb, the panel will discuss current research and genetic information.
Register at breastcancertrials.org.au/ news/qa-events/qa-genetics/
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