Janet's Journey

"I had just turned 40 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2001. Having just helped support a good friend through breast cancer, I did have some knowledge of what to expect, but nothing could prepare me for my own roller coaster ride that was about to begin."

My name is Janet. I had just turned 40 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2001. Having just helped support a good friend through breast cancer, I did have some knowledge of what to expect, but nothing could prepare me for my own roller coaster ride that was about to begin. I had moments of such despair and helplessness, though I never lost my humour.

I was referred to the Breast Centre at Westmead Hospital by my GP, a wonderful lady, who was diagnosed with breast cancer herself a month after me. From our very first visit, my husband and I were treated with such respect and compassion. My whole treatment plan was explained to both of us fully and we asked many questions. Most of the answers I had to rely on my husband, Tony, to repeat later as about only 5% sank in. Within a week I had had a mastectomy by Dr Owen Ung and opted to start reconstructive surgery at the same time. An expander bag was inserted and slowly over the next few months saline was injected to inflate the bag ready for my permanent implant (felt like an elephant sitting on my chest). Four weeks after surgery I began chemotherapy under the guidance of Professor Kefford and his team. From the very beginning I was one of the unlucky ones and became a familiar face in the emergency room and the chemotherapy ward at Westmead Hospital. After my fourth and final cycle, when I was ready to celebrate, I was admitted to hospital with chemically induced encephalitis. This was probably my lowest time.

From the drainage test that was performed before surgery and the biopsies taken during surgery, it was found that I had a sentinel node positive in my chest wall. Due to this, radiotherapy was recommended and I was put in the hands of one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, a lovely man, Professor John Boyages. For me, radiotherapy was a breeze and I continued to gain strength.

Support – where would we be without it. It comes from many different places. I was enveloped in love and support from my family and many friends. They were with me every step of the way with a hug, a joke, a shoulder to cry on and many wonderful dinners. To all of them I would just like to say I thank you and will always remember everything you did for me, especially my husband, Tony, who was my rock. He gave up everything to become my nurse, my counsellor, my dietician, taxi driver, housemaid and jester. He looked after our two children, Sigourney(9) and Jordan(6) single-handedly and never once complained. Our children came through this experience with minimum emotional stress due to Tony’s honesty and calming influence. To him I say I thank you and I love you with all my heart. 

I also need to mention at this stage another place where I found great support. The breast centre has an Internet site for people with breast cancer or for their family and friends—www.bci.org.au. Within this site there is an email service (B-Mail) and it was here that I gained valuable information and support from other persons going through what I was going through. From the day I was diagnosed, I logged on and wrote what was happening and how I was feeling. My emails were always answered with compassion and I knew I wasn’t alone. It put my own illness into perspective. Please take the opportunity to have a look. I was very lucky to have a wonderful support network, but I still found talking to people who were going through or had gone through what I was, an invaluable experience. A few women’s names become very familiar so it was decided that we needed to put faces to the names. Six of us—Joan, Avril, Sue, Vickie, Clare, Marg and myself, arranged to meet for lunch. We chose Penrith Panthers and well, what a day we had. Every story was so different and treatment plans ranged widely between each of us. We have organized to meet again and hope more people will come. Keep an eye out for information in B-mail.

I had the second stage of my reconstructive surgery in October and continuing my history of not fitting the mould, a day after coming home, I was readmitted with an infection which kept me in hospital for 10 days. I was then on antibiotics for another 4 weeks. I have chosen not to take Tamoxifen, for now anyway. I did try it as well as a hormone implant and reacted to both (surprise, surprise!) so I have decided to be "drug-free" for now.

I have heard many women say that since breast cancer their lives are much better. I personally don’t feel like this as I loved life before. To me, my journey has been more like a big hiccough and I am now just glad to be able to rejoin it. I wish all of you the best possible health and happiness. Please log onto the Internet site and drop me a line and say hello.