Fiona’s Story

"I have never known fear like I felt that day" ..

My name is Fiona. I am married, with two beautiful girls, Hannah, 15, and Lara, 13.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on my 47th birthday in 2015. I had always looked after my health, with regular exercise, a very healthy diet and voluntary mammograms from the age of 40. I had no family history of breast cancer, but as a nurse I knew regular screening would reduce my risk. I was due for a mammogram and mentioned to my doctor that I noticed a little thickening on one breast, so she sent me for an ultrasound. It revealed two small cancer spots. It was a shock but I knew the survival rates were high, so I prepared myself for surgery and chemo. Hopefully one crappy year and then I would be able to get my life back, I thought.

My surgeon did some scans on my body and found that the two small spots had metastasised extensively in my lungs, approximately 10 spots, each about 3cm. I knew instantly she told me this that it would be an extremely bad prognosis. I have never known fear like I felt that day. Instead of having surgery to remove the breast cancer she sent me to an oncologist who recommended immediate chemotherapy for 4 months.

I got through my chemo much better than I expected, with no complications and the wonderful support of my family and my close friends. I exercised every day of that time in chemo, and took up tai chi and meditation. My oncologist told me that the average life expectancy in my situation was 2- 3 years, which I just decided was totally inadequate. My goal is to see my girls finish school and become self-sufficient adults. My response to chemo was good and the cancer spots in my lungs reduced by 50% to only 10% of my lung capacity.

After chemo I started on Letrozole to reduce the oestrogen that was fuelling the cancer. I had my ovaries removed last year and continue to have scans every 3 months. So far so good as the cancer continues to very slowly reduce in size.

I hit rock bottom with my mental health about 6 months after my diagnosis. I had been seeing a psychiatrist through my oncology team but he wasn’t really helping me. I went back to my GP and she suggested I try a small dose of anti-depressants, which I did. I started seeing a lovely psychologist and I also joined the Thursday Girls support group. Finally someone else understood what I was going through! I was able to see the other women in the group who had survived much longer than I expected. This gave me hope and an outlet for the worries I had about the future without burdening my loved ones.

Now I have retired from my work as a community nurse and teacher at Deakin Uni. I spend my days exercising, doing yoga, meditation and tai chi. I do volunteer work and spend as much time as I can with my girls, husband and my two dear sisters and mum and dad. We go on holiday every three months, and I plan lots of little things to look forward to. I feel remarkable fit and healthy so I live with a healthy denial that yes, I have cancer, but I do not let it define me, and manage to actually forget about it sometimes which is wonderful.