One year on from her breast cancer diagnosis, Bowen Icon Cancer Centre patient Kirsty shares her journey in the hope it will help others.

“It’s disappointing, but not disastrous,” said the doctor on 2 July 2021, after telling me I had a cancerous tumour in my breast and most likely cancerous cells in my lymph nodes.

I remember thinking, “disappointing is what you say when you can’t do something because of bad weather, not when you are told you have cancer.”

The next person who spoke to me said, “you will go through treatment and be able to look back to see what you have gone through. Each step of the way there will be people to support you.”

A year later, I am now there, with all treatment completed and I am in the system for regular monitoring.

1) I am grateful the health system was there when I needed it. This journey started through the regular breast screening program. I received great care in the private and public health systems, despite the ever-present threat of COVID-19. One of my most unusual experiences was in Level 4 lockdown, when I had less than a day’s notice for surgery as they wanted to get me in before hospitals got busy with COVID-19 patients. I was also grateful that the breast cancer has much research, expertise and support.

2) I am grateful for my fitness and a healthy lifestyle. When you have periods of not feeling well, you appreciate the times when you feel well. I was encouraged to continue to exercise through the various treatments and the doctors have said that my health and fitness helped my recovery and reduced some of the side effects.

3) I am grateful I could continue to do things I enjoy while undergoing treatment. During the treatments I had to apply strength in looking after myself and balancing life, and keeping all of things going that I enjoy. This included working, socialising, studying and the usual family activities. There were days when I had to recognise I wasn’t up to much and other days where life was pretty normal. I was very grateful to others for supporting me.

4) I am grateful I have learnt more about how to look out for others who may have things going on in their life. Thank you to the many people who kept in contact with me during my treatments and continue to regularly check in. Even a short message such as, “how are you doing today?” was lovely to receive from family, friends and colleagues. My experience has made me more aware of keeping in touch with people and knowing when they need support.

5) I am grateful to have recognised that health is something we need to give priority to. If you have a niggling health issue, get it checked. One of the reasons for posting this here is to remind everyone that we can get busy but we need to make time for health checks. It could be the difference between a disappointing and disastrous diagnosis.