'Why Me?' & Why we are hosting a Morning Tea!

Cancer affects so many people in our community. We have clients coming to the studio for some R & R during their battle with cancer and we have family members that care for their loved ones day in & day out who come to the studio because they realise it is important to look after themselves too. We even have clients who come to help their grief after a loved one has passed away. Wherever you are in your journey, we are always honoured to be a safe space for you & a place that offers you support through the tough times & celebrates with you in your joyful ones.

We have wanted to host a Biggest Morning Tea for quite some time now, as the Cancer Council is very close to our hearts. 18 years ago Bek’s mum found out she had cancer & she tells us her story below in a very honest, and sometimes funny recount.

Getting a cancer diagnosis is frightening. I was a nurse who worked in an Oncology Ward at Westmead hospital for 18 years. I cared for many, many breast cancer patients. Some survived, some didn't.

In 2001 I found a dense patch in my right breast while having a bath. It took another 2 months of scans, mammograms and doctor appointments to tell me that my concern was just normal breast tissue. Luckily, from my experience as a nurse I insisted on a fine needle aspiration. Pretty devastating the news from the breast surgeon followed: suspicious cells were found. That’s the fancy way of telling me they were cancerous . I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. I lost 9 kgs in weeks.

I think you don't believe it at first. They must have got the samples mixed up. It's not me. I had three babies before the age of 26. I breast fed them all. It's not in my family . It's not me. Why me?

June 26th, lumpectomy day . Scary. A week later I am told the tumour was too big. I need a mastectomy and probable chemotherapy.

July 12th. Mastectomy Day. I said goodbye to my right boob the night before in the bath. I wondered what it would be like to have only one boob. I liked my boobs. But one had let me down.

The tumour was large. 43 mm. It had spread to my lymph glands, but only just one node out of 24 . I was relieved that it was only one. But I had lost 23 others that were perfect. Back then the only way of finding out about lymph node involvement was to take them all.

Chemotherapy was another frightening event. Every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. The dreaded intravenous poison it was called. As a nurse I was petrified of it. My hair started to fall out after 3 weeks. In clumps. It actually hurt to touch it. Like moving your hair after taking out a ponytail. I got a wig. Cute little brown number with highlights. It was winter and I remember how cold my head felt at night. I wore a beanie to bed with spikey bits of fallen hair in it. Only my legs stayed hairy. All the rest was gone. I said that when my hair grew back I would never complain about a bad hair day. I did and still do.

After weeks of bad news, I finally got some scans and blood test results that were very positive. My chemo finished in October. My hair started to grow back by November. I've kept it short ever since. I started to go to Yoga at the hospital where I met a great group of people and we all found fabulous connection & wellbeing from it.

Now 18 years forward to this day, after what felt like the worst time of my life, I have witnessed the arrival of four gorgeous grandchildren and seen my wonderful kids grow up and achieve a fabulous life. I am a survivor !!

No one asks for this disease. Thank goodness for all the research and all the fund raisers. Women have conquered this disease. Our survival rates are amazing. Keep achieving greater heights in research for our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters and they won't need to say " why me?"

PS. I said goodbye to my left boob two years after my right. Just for the heck of it, I didn't want to go through cancer again. No more mammograms for me

Chris x