Marg’s Story

Marg died on August 7th, 2019.  RIP, Marg.

This was her story ...

"My name is Margaret (Marg). I’m 65 now, been married to John for, gosh, 44 years, yikes! I am a retired Registered Nurse. We have 3 beautiful grown up daughters with families of their own, and we are blessed with 4 grandchildren, 2 girls and 2 boys, ranging from 6 to 10 years. They know Grandma is sick. Only the 10 year old is starting to ask questions about cancer. John and I have been very pragmatic about the whole thing. It is what it is and deal with what life brings our way. I love my garden and do what I can from day to day, even though my stamina is waning. I am in a choir, do belly dancing, drawing and oil painting, love reading and go to the hydro pool when I feel strong enough. I try to keep myself occupied as much as possible thanks to U3A Knox.

In May  2013 I found a lump in my left breast and knew immediately what it was. After all the preliminaries, biopsies, and subsequent surgeries, I wondered how long this lump had been there. So I asked BSV (Breast Screen Victoria) to send me my 2011 mammographs. I had been having 2 yearly screening since I turned 50 some 10 years ago, and was always put at ease when I got the “all clear” letter. 2011 was no different. However, when I received the 2011 mammograms, there was a circle around an opaque area. It was obvious that someone had noticed an abnormality of which I was not notified. It was in the same spot where the lump was.

I cannot describe all the horrific emotions I went through. My treatment continued with chemo then radiation which gave me 3rd degree burns, so I couldn’t complete the 6 weeks. This was March 2014.

My husband John and I had a meeting with BSV regarding this circle and why hadn’t I been warned. Well, their protocol is: mammogram given to one radiologist, then to another. If both see no abnormalities, then you are sent an ‘all clear’ letter. However, in my case, if one radiologist finds a suspect area, it goes on to a second, then a third radiologist who discuss the mammogram. They decided it was nothing, and sent me an ALL CLEAR letter! So now in 2013, the glands in my neck already had cancer cells. I had been blissfully unaware of the cancer spreading for 2 years. We are now fighting to have this protocol changed, that if only ONE radiologist finds a suspect area, the women’s GP, or she herself should be notified, so she can make her own decisions about her treatment.

After my radiation and the burns healed, life went on as usual, but now it included monthly blood tests and the occasional scans. I was feeling good, sure I had beaten this! We went to Bali x2, in 2014 and again in 2015. This cancer business was just another thing we had to deal with amongst all the other activities, no big deal.

Toward the end of 2015, my blood tumour marker was going up in small increments, so I had more scans and MRI’s. It was at this time also that John’s PSA was being investigated, and so 3 days before Christmas he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and required surgery as well. On the 19th Jan 2016, almost 3 weeks after John’s diagnosis, I was given my diagnosis of bone metastasises. So he had his surgery and I had my radiation and both survived 6 months of hell. I went on to have more chemo which kept things ‘stable’, but subsequent scans showed ‘hot spots’ and I went on to have a different chemo in Jan 2017 which seems to be doing its job. John’s PSA is non-detectable. Good on him!!!!

Our girls are just angels the way they cooked for us, took us out for lunches and generally made sure we were well. So proud of them and their hubbies."