Breast cancer survivors come out in force for Mother’s Day Classic, to fight against the disease
These two mothers fought and defeated breast cancer in very similar ways. Now they’re sharing their stories of determination to help the women who are next.
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A determined group of South Australian breast cancer survivors will be out in force on Mother’s Day to bring attention to the most common form of women’s cancer.
For Tamara Henwood and Jessica Marechal, it was supposed to be the most rewarding, exciting time of their lives.
They were both in their 30s, with two young children each, and their biggest worries were which kindergarten or school might be best for them.
Then everything changed.
Two or three years and a couple of thousand kilometres apart, both noticed minor lumps in their breasts, had them checked more out of caution than real concern and both got the devastating news within the week.
They had breast cancer, and would later learn it was triple negative – the most aggressive and least common form of the disease.
The lives they had planned for changed overnight. They would go through the toughest months of their lives, not even certain what life would be like on the other side – all while trying to look after their families, care for their young children and somehow find the time and strength essential to deal with cancer.
Tamara was living in Brisbane and preparing for exciting new work opportunities when her world was turned upside down during a week in which the news became progressively more grim.
“One Monday morning, I was in the shower getting ready for a big work week when I felt a lump in my left breast and I said to (husband) Tim that I’d better make a doctor’s appointment just to be safe,” she recalls.
“By Wednesday, I had a mammogram and ultrasound, and had a biopsy taken for anything that looked suspicious. It ended up that I had three tumours.
“By Thursday, I was told I had breast cancer, which was later confirmed as triple negative when full pathology was conducted.
“That meant it wasn’t caused by hormones and therefore hormone treatment was not an option. Two of the tumours were invasive and the other was still in the duct, which meant it hadn’t spread outside at that stage.”
Confident she was surrounded by what she described as “a fantastic medical team”, Tamara endeavoured to remain positive and fight.
She remembers making a conscious decision to do an about face and change the way she processed and dealt with her prognosis.
“Before I went in to my appointment with the breast surgeon, I said to Tim that I didn’t want to tell anyone about this,” she explains.
“My plan was to go in, find out what’s happening, get treatment and keep going.
“When I walked out half an hour later, though, something came over me. I wanted to stand on top of the building and scream to the rooftops that this is what I’ve got and this is what we’re going to do.
“I remember Tim saying, hang on, that’s a massive change from what you said earlier. But it occurred to me that this wasn’t something I should hide away.”
Making her condition public and talking about breast cancer was a very important step for Tamara.
Describing herself as fiercely independent, she was not used to being so public about her personal life but it was the right decision for her at the time.
“I made a conscious decision early on to accept help from anyone who offered, which was a big thing for me,” she says.
“At the same time, I also felt I needed to be quite selfish through that period and sent an email to my family and friends early on.
“I said, ‘You all have each other’s email addresses, reach out to each other if you’re having a bad day or worrying about me having cancer because I need all the energy I can summon to deal with this’.
“Tim and I were raising children aged three and four and I had to stay in the right space to keep living my life and fighting this thing.”
What Tamara described as “selfish” could just as easily be interpreted as “determined” as she went into survival mode.
She opted not to join any social media groups for people dealing with cancer because she didn’t want outside influences impacting the mindset that was getting her through. She feared being depressed at hearing bad cancer stories or envious of hearing about the success stories and knew, for the time being, her best path was to remain focused on her own health issues without outside influences.
She eventually relented and started posting a video blog as a means of letting those close to her know how she was travelling.
“I started the blog because it was easier for me to deal with people who were understandably concerned but didn’t know how to talk to me. And I didn’t want to be asked every day either,” she says.
“I found people who’d said they were having a bad day overcorrecting themselves around me, adding they had nothing to complain about compared to me. But they’re entitled to have their bad days without apologising for it.
“I learned there were family and friends, some overseas, who were struggling because of worry about me.
“Because I felt I had been so selfish in that period, I wanted to do something that potentially could help other women going through treatment. It was therapeutic because it helped get things out of my system.”
While Tamara was worried about family and friendsand maintaining a strong mindset, a very real physical fight was ahead of her.
She knew there was cancer on both sides of her family – and has since found out that her children may carry the BRCA1 gene mutation – and she didn’t know what to expect or what would be discovered when she went into surgery less than three weeks after being diagnosed.
“I went in and had my first mastectomy and they took the whole breast,” she says.
“They also decided to do a second-stage axillary lymph node clearance, which was very fortunate because there was evidence the cancer had already left my breast and travelled to the lymph node.
“As soon as the surgical wound healed, I started the chemotherapy, which of course was pretty ordinary. I had two different chemo protocols. Because it was triple negative, they throw everything at you.
“I had to delay having my right breast removed in prophylactic (preventive) surgery due to the gene mutation because the radiotherapy burned my skin and the surgeons were worried about infection. Once the skin broke down it was next-level painful.
“I had my daughter Inez at home and son Zane was starting reception, and I remember trying to wear the lightest silk shirt I could find just to get through the day.”
But it’s a fight she ultimately won.
Now with no evidence of disease, Tamara and Tim have relocated with their children to Adelaide, where they both work in senior positions within the aged-care industry.
It’s given them a fresh start, and Tamara is now able to look back on her darkest hours philosophically.
“We’ve been very open and honest with the kids but in an age-appropriate way,” she says.
“Even today, we still talk about it. They’ve seen and touched my scars and they know they can talk about it.
“I’ve elected to remain flat because I didn’t want the potential issues that can sometimes arise with reconstructive surgery. I had nice boobs but they tried to kill me so they had to go.”
Jessica was just 33 when she got the devastating news that turned her idyllic family life at Nairne in the Adelaide Hills upside down.
It was July 2019. She and husband Phillip had been married for almost eight years, daughter Molly was in kindergarten and she was breastfeeding infant son Hendrix when she noticed a lump in her breast.
Unlike Tamara, she had no family history of breast cancer and assumed it was just a cyst but got it checked anyway. The week that followed became a rollercoaster of emotions as she went from believing all was well after several tests to receiving the news.
“I thought I had mastitis or a blocked duct,” she recalls. “I didn’t really think much of it but then a lump turned up that was quite noticeable. I went to my GP and she said she thought it was just a cyst, which can be quite common during breastfeeding. But she sent me off for an ultrasound and checked the fluid from the cyst, which came back negative for cancer.
“About four days later, the lump returned so she referred me to a breast surgeon. I had another ultrasound, which also came back clear. Then, three or four days later, it was back again. It was about 5cm wide so I had another ultrasound and biopsy of the wall of the cyst.
“I remember it was the first of August that I received a phone call telling me I had breast cancer. Then, the same day, I had people ringing me to say you need to be here in two hours for a CT scan, an MRI scan and a full body bone scan.
“You’re just thrown into this completely unknown world of constant tests. It all happens so quickly.
Within a week, she had met her oncologist and, within two weeks, had started five months of chemotherapy.
“Then, in February 2020, after a good response to the chemo, it was determined I only needed a lumpectomy (surgery to remove the cancer). That was followed by a further five weeks of radiation just as Covid hit,” she says.
“They did genetic testing on me because triple negative is often hereditary but they found I had no genetic markers for breast cancer. I guess I was just one of those unlucky people who gets it without any history.
“While there were limited treatment options for the triple negative breast cancer, I responded well. They say that breastfeeding reduces your risk of breast cancer.
“But I guess the positive for me and other women who find out they have an issue while breastfeeding is that we are more aware of our breasts at that time and more likely to notice something early.”
Jessica is philosophical and optimistic as she comes up on three years since her life-changing diagnosis. She still has physical side effects from her chemotherapy, radiation and surgery but considers them a small price to pay for beating breast cancer.
“Things are looking really good for me now,” she says.
“I still have soreness in my left breast area and I have some breathlessness, which started as soon as I began chemotherapy. That’s not a typical side effect apparently. I’ve had tests to see if there’s anything physically wrong with me but they’ve all shown nothing. It’s just something I have to live with.”
Jessica has become very active in raising awareness and support for cancer, coming down the freeway twice a month to attend a support group on Glen Osmond Rd for women aged under 50 with cancer.
Both women are now proud ambassadors for the Mother’s Day Classic, which raises money for and brings awareness to breast cancer.
While the Classic has three major locations in Adelaide, Gawler and Mount Gambier, organisers have made allowances because of Covid limitations and restrictions for it to be held in other locations where necessary.
Educating women about prevention and treatment are two of the major messages organisers strive to deliver every year and, to that end, the Grab Your Boobs Please team will also be joining in the event.
That team’s objective is to promote the importance of self-checks and early detection as a means of reducing the impact in the event of breast cancer being discovered.
With participants now able to become involved in various remote areas, Jessica relishes the opportunity to bring the event to her local Adelaide Hills community.
“The first year I did the event, I was just coming out of my radiation treatment and I needed some motivation to get into exercise during my treatment,” she recalls.
“The second year, I thought I should do a bit more so I became an ambassador and I’m doing that again this year.
“Last year, I did my 5km around Nairne with hubby, while the kids rode their bikes. Thankfully, I’ve managed the breathlessness while I do the Classic at a pace that suits me.”
Until they had breast cancer, Tamara and Jessica were strangers with little in common. Tamara lived in suburban Brisbane and came to Adelaide only after going through her treatment, a move she has relished as an opportunity for a fresh start. Jessica has lived in the Adelaide Hills all her life.
They are now two of the seven South Australian Mother’s Day Classic ambassadors who work passionately to raise awareness of breast cancer, share how to deal with it and help find a cure for it.
The disease does not discriminate, as evidenced by the people who have become ambassadors.
Amy Parkes of Victor Harbor has undergone lengthy treatment for widespread hormone-positive, high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ. She has had a mastectomy, two reconstructive surgeries and is due to have another bout of surgery this year.
Samantha Foreman of Williamstown has survived triple negative breast cancer and is now in her third year as an ambassador. She has become a passionate advocate of breast cancer awareness.
Megan Medhurst of Mount Gambier underwent 15 hours of preventive surgery at age 32 to have a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction because of a strong family history of the disease. The youngest of her three children was born the year after her surgery.
Nicole Szkolik of Adelaide has been educating family and friends since she overcame stage 2 breast cancer in 2014. In an effort to reduce the chances of family and friends having to go through chemotherapy and radiotherapy – which she remembers as one of the most difficult times of her life – she has become a fierce advocate of, and educator about, early detection and the need for self-examination and mammograms.
And Joe Wrin of Adelaide is proof that people who have not been diagnosed or physically suffered from breast cancer can still be victims and survivors. He lost his wife Leeanne to breast cancer 12 years ago and then had to watch as current partner Cristina underwent a mastectomy for stage 1 of the disease before getting the all-clear. As a scientist, he has undertaken PhD studies into a potential therapeutic treatment for breast cancer, with an emphasis on cancer in young women.
One thing the ambassadors have in common is that they will all be walking or running in the Mother’s Day Classic on May 8 to heighten awareness of the various forms of breast cancer and raise vital funding that will go towards the continued search for a cure.
Proceeds from the event go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a body that supports world-class breast cancer research without any government funding.
The sobering statistic is that every one of the seven ambassadors represents at least a further 200 South Australian women who are diagnosed every year with breast cancer. Despite the daunting figures and the frightening fact that 3000 women still die from breast cancer across Australia every year, the ambassadors bring a positive message in the face of an insidious disease – there is life and hope after breast cancer and the chances of survival are improving by the day.
● This weekend is the 25th anniversary of the Mother’s Day Classic.
● Walk or run on Sunday, May 8, at up to 70 locations across Australia.
● Register yourself or a team to support and honour the one in seven women diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
● Major events are back: In major and metro cities, there is an event village, entertainment, music, and food stalls.
● If you prefer staying local, walk or run at one of many local events across Australia on Mother’s Day. Join the sea of pink in your local community.
● There is also the option to participate in your own time and place.
Details: mothersdayclassic.com.au ■
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