“I still can’t believe how calm I was”: How to deal with the fear of cancer recurrence
Rose Jardine was 41 when, after a routine check-up with her GP, she got the call with the news that she had a lump in her breast that eventually resulted in her diagnosis of breast cancer.
Five years later, doctors found she had extensive metastasis in her liver before the cancer progressed to her brain in 2018 and 2020.
“When I had my first brain (metastasis) diagnosis I remember phoning my Mum, and she was absolutely hysterical,” Rose says.
“I couldn’t believe how uncontrollably upset she was, and here I was very calmly explaining that it would be a simple matter of brain surgery and radiation. I still can’t believe how calm I was through that whole ordeal.”
Though the survival rates for breast cancer in Australia and New Zealand are quite high - 91 percent and 88 percent respectively - the fear of cancer recurring in a different part of the body - called metastasis - or again in the breast, is quite common.
Rosie celebrates Mother’s Day in 2012 after finishing radiation. Image: Supplied
“I seem to have ‘found my voice’ since my MBC (metastatic brain cancer) diagnosis,” Rose says.
“I kept my original diagnosis very quiet, but now that I’m living with an incurable disease I’m forever promoting early detection and regular breast exams, as well as educating those around me about what MBC is.”
In the latest Q&A event on May 11 from the Breast Cancer Trials - a group of breast cancer researchers and doctors involved in international clinical trial programs - a panel of experts led by journalist Annabel Crabb will tackle the topic of recurrence.
A panel of experts will be discussing the latest in breast cancer research and clinical trials, personal experiences with breast cancer, and how to live with and manage the fear of recurrence.
The expert panel includes Professor Sherene Loi, Professor Prue Francis, Associate Professor and clinical psychologist, Lesley Stafford and Ms Leslie Gilham, a Breast Cancer Trials participant and Chair of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel.
Rose - who participated in the Mona Lisa Touch Clinical Trial - says she is thankful for those who have participated in previous trials and opened up alternative treatments she can pursue if needed.
“Some patients run out of lines of treatment very quickly and that is devastating for them and their families,” she says.
“Sometimes as cancer patients we feel rather useless, but this is something significant that could have a major impact on someone’s life in the future - not necessarily being in a trial, but being a voice for the trials and getting the message out that funding for trials is critical.
“What a legacy that would be.”
The free Q&A event begins at 5pm on Wednesday, May 11, and you can register here and pose your questions to the panel on the night.
Images: Supplied