Two Time Survivor!

I was born in Sydney, Australia and had a very happy childhood until 1956 when my mother suddenly became very ill and at the young age of 45, she passed away. No one would tell me what she had died of - in those days we didn’t ask too many questions. It was not until many years later that, upon requesting her death certificate, I found out she had Sarcoma (a form of cancer) - the “C” word then was only mentioned in hushed tones.

After high school, I enrolled at the University of Sydney where I completed a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in French and Education. A week after I received my final exam results and learned that I now had a BA, my father passed away, at the age of 59, after a long battle with Follicular Lymphoma.

In 1970, I got married and moved to the United States where I remained until 1981, when I undertook an intensive foreign language training program in Bahasa Indonesia, in preparation for a move to Jakarta, Indonesia , where I lived and worked for three years.

The Jakarta assignment concluded, I moved back to the USA in 1984 and lived and worked in Honolulu, Hawaii for the next 11 years. I thought I’d moved to paradise until I faced one of the biggest challenges in my life, in 1988. As was the case with my mother, I was diagnosed with cancer - but mine was cancer of the right breast, with one positive lymph node. I was 44 years old and wondered if I, too, would die at the age of 45, as my mother had. Fortunately, medical technology had come a long way from the 1950s to the 1980s. A marvellous oncologist gave me hope and the best treatment for my breast cancer.

I had a Lumpectomy followed by three weeks of Radiation Therapy, six cycles of Chemotherapy, and a further three weeks of Radiation Therapy. The chemotherapy I had was such that, that although my hair thinned considerably, I did not lose it and never wore a wig. I also went on Tamoxifen which I took for 8 years (in those days we thought we had to take the drug “forever”).

After my treatment was completed, I became very involved with the Honolulu group of Reach to Recovery (a part of the American Cancer Society). As a member of this organisation, I showed other breast cancer patients that there IS life after breast cancer. I became a volunteer visitor and eventually the Volunteer Coordinator of “R2R” on the island of Oahu. In addition to the visits, I became a trainer of volunteers and also helped plan and organise several Breast Cancer Forums and Breast Cancer Fairs in Honolulu. In 1994, I was especially humbled to be given the Terese Lasser Award by the Hawaii-Pacific Division of the American Cancer Society. (Terese Lasser was the courageous and inspirational founder of Reach to Recovery.)

Carole meets YB Dato’ Shahrizat,
Minister of Women and Family Development at the Closing Ceremony of the 1^st Asia Pacific Reach to Recovery International Breast Cancer Support Conference on
11 August 2002.

My breast cancer experience caused me to re-evaluate life’s priorities. Now, knowing that every day of life is precious, I terminated an unhappy marriage and, fortunately, met a lovely man, Marvin, now my husband.

In 1995, we returned to Australia - this time to live - as Marvin had a posting in Canberra.

I must tell you that cancer is NEVER REALLY CURED. The key to survival is check, recheck and check again. Cancer survivors understand this and never become complacent. There’s nothing magical about “5 or 10 years and you never have to worry again”. It was through such a routine monthly breast self exam, which I always did, and continue to do, that I found another lump in my right breast. On April 1, 1996 (April Fool’s Day), I had a mammogram which confirmed that I had a new cancer (not a recurrence) and one which was very aggressive. This was no joke and I acted swiftly. It was surgery again (a modified radical mastectomy) and, after researching options, I demanded and received the most intensive, industrial strength chemotherapy available (CMF and Adriamycin), administered via a “Port-a-Cath”. I chose not to have reconstruction and still wear a prosthesis, without any problem.

Fortunately, Canberra had wonderful medical facilities, including a nurse who came to my home frequently to look after me. I had become involved with a marvellous group of breast cancer survivors in Canberra called “Bosom Buddies” before I contracted the second cancer, and they were always there. Although I quickly lost all my hair, wore a wig, and felt terrible for many days after each treatment (over a total of nine months), I had many good days, and my dear husband and circle of friends and supporters kept my spirits up.

My recovery was so good that a year after my surgery, my oncologist gave me “the green light” to go with Marvin high up into the Andes Mountains of Peru, travelling without my wig and showing off my “newly fashionable” fuzz on the top of my head! A few months later, I was a model in a fashion show to raise money for breast cancer research and was also one of 20 breast cancer survivors to be photographed for a special exhibition of black and white photographs, appropriately named “Of Tears, Laughter and Hope”.

Now living in Perth, Western Australia, I am a volunteer for the Breast Cancer Support Service. Indeed, I was thrilled and to be the sole representative from Perth at the 1^st International Asia-Pacific Reach to Recovery International Breast Cancer Support Conference in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, in August, 2002.

I feel very optimistic about my future and am privileged that you have given me the chance to tell... MY STORY.

MY STORY – There IS life after breast cancer even if it is never really cured! I had breast cancer twice…