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Sarah shares her personal breast cancer journey and some of the things that journey has taught her. Read her story below.
For the first time, standards have been developed detailing the best practice treatments for all types of breast cancer to ensure that every New Zealander gets the best possible care.
You now have the opportunity to comment on these standards and BCAC is urging you to do so. Your input could play a part in improving breast cancer care for women yet to be treated.
The Boobops Breast Cancer Dragon Boat Team have capped off an amazing season winning their third consecutive National title win at the New Zealand Dragon Boat Association National Championships held at the Blue Lakes Rotorua on Saturday 6th April. The Boobops won gold in the 500 meter premium race bronze in the 200 meter sprint after being impeded from a collison recovered to get bronze the Gold was won by Pink Dragons which was fantastic the team were are very happy for Pink Dragon along time coming. With the 2 kilometer event the results were given out at prize given which Boobops won Gold in posting two personal best times for the 500 and 2000meters. The team also picked up the Breast Cancer Cup and the Rountree Shield again as part of the 500 meter win.
A huge thanks to everyone who got in behind BCAC's annual fundraiser, Show Your Heart for Women Living with Breast Cancer, which ran between April 22 and May 19.
In particular, we'd like to acknowledge the support of Arnott's Tim Tam, Woman's Day magazine and Countdown supermarkets.
Arnott's Tim Tam and Woman's Day donated money from every purchase at Countdown supermakets to BCAC. The money raised will help BCAC produce and distribute our Step by Step support and information pack to the 2,800 New Zealanders newly diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
St Heliers grandmother, Raewyn Francis, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and says BCAC’s Step by Step was her ‘soul mate’ throughout her treatment programme.
Raewyn had had a small lump in her breast since the late ‘80s and was usually good about going for her regular mammograms in order to keep an eye on it.
In 2012, she noted the lump had slightly changed shape. About the same time she received her yearly reminder for breast screening, but didn’t get around to making an appointment because she was busy and stressed with other things going on in her life. Then one day, her boss insisted she ‘just make the appointment and go before work ’. To this day Raewyn will be forever thankful.
Angela Tovey has helped more than 50 women through breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in her role as an Auckland GP, but on Christmas Eve last year she was herself confronted with the disease.
“That was a lovely Christmas present,” she laughs. “It was a bit grim and I had to wait three weeks before I could have surgery or before I could find out what type of breast cancer I had. It’s a long time to wait when you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer,” she says.
Whetu Pickering was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, known as triple negative breast cancer.
She was 40 when she found a lump under her arm and went to get it checked out. She didn’t believe she could have breast cancer and thought the lump might be related to treatment she’d just finished for Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
But investigations revealed that it was breast cancer and Whetu then had a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Rebecca Hawkins was only 40 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and says BCAC’s Step by Step support pack helped her to understand and process her diagnosis and treatment.
The mum-to-four-boys was diagnosed after her GP sent her for a mammogram when he found lumps in her breast following a regular breast exam.
The mammogram identified fibroadenoma, which are small benign lumps in the breast. Her GP sent her to a breast surgeon, who then did a biopsy which revealed a cancerous tumour.
Penelope was diagnosed with HER2-Positive breast cancer after a regular mammogram.
It was only the second mammogram she’d been for, but something untoward was identified and a biopsy revealed that she had breast cancer. “That mammogram saved my life,” she says.
Penelope had a full mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation treatment and is currently being treated with Herceptin and tamoxifen.
The 49-year-old’s treatment was complicated by other health issues and she frequently collapsed due to anaemia exhaustion.
