Incurable cancer diagnosis, but brave mum fights on

WHEN a 34-year-old Brisbane mother of three was told her cancer diagnosis was “incurable” and “terminal” she vowed to keep fighting. Now, there’s new hope of a miracle cure, but it comes at a hefty price.

THE doctor was grave and sober and the words that slipped out of her mouth made the ground collapse under Suz Cox’s feet.

“Incurable”.

“Terminal”.

She had a six-week-old baby balanced on her knee and beside her, two little cherubs squirmed restlessly in their seats.

On the outside Suz looked a million dollars. Still does. She’s 34 years old and appears a glowing picture of health. But the diagnosis a few weeks back was devastating.

Stage four, extremely aggressive breast cancer – the most tricky kind, triple negative.

The doctor stopped short of telling her how much life she had left to live but it looked bleak. It was now just about buying time.

On the outside, Suz Cox still looks a million dollars, but the reality is very different. Picture: Jamie Hanson

The cancer has already eaten into her breast bone and is nudging the heart and lungs.

But what doctors considered a death sentence lit a fire in the mum of Warner on Brisbane’s northern outskirts.

She looked down at her kids – Aria, 4, Porter, 3, and tiny, newborn Levi – and decided that dying was just not an option. Suz had already lived through cancer and a double mastectomy and had lost her precious baby girl Olivia Hope at 19 weeks gestation. Wasn’t that enough for any woman to bear?

“There was no hope in the doctor’s office that day and that just whipped up something in me and made me stubborn and determined. I decided ‘no, this is not the end of my story, no way,’ ” the brave mum told The Sunday Mail.

She hopes to travel to the Hallwang Clinic in Germany which offers the latest medical treatments for cancer, including immunotherapeutics and cutting-edge procedures.

A picture of Suz Cox in hospital for her double mastectomy in November 2015.

“I want to be there to watch my children – including my stepson Dylan, 10, – discover their dreams and goals and to see them walk into their purpose. My doctor suggested that I not pin unrealistic hopes on the clinic, but we need hope. Without hope there is no life,” she said.

Husband Phil is adamant that “we are not going to just lay down and walk towards the light”.

In the meantime, Suz will begin radical radiation and chemotherapy at Royal Brisbane Hospital this week to try to prevent any further spread.

“This cancer’s aggressiveness, strong resistance to treatments and high ability to repair itself makes our journey very scary,” Phil said.

“Suz is going to need a treatment plan that is incredibly specific and individualised. We don’t live in denial of the fragility of life or the very real outcome this could have, but we are not going to stop fighting.”

Suz Cox was an elite gymnast.

Ms Cox was a fit and athletic young woman when breast cancer first struck at the age of 31. She had a double mastectomy when a lump in her breast proved to be cancer.

At the time, she was given an 83 per cent chance that the cancer would not return and chemo would have boosted that number by just a few more per cent.

“I didn’t have chemotherapy as I had a two- and one-year-old and, as it turns out, I ended up pregnant shortly after. Tragically, we lost our little Olivia,” Suz said.

After the birth of Levi, who is now four months, Suz felt pain in her chest wall. She put it down to the aftermath of her double mastectomy, assuming it was something to do with her body thinking it should produce milk.

Suz and Phil Cox with their children, Porter 3, Levi, 4 months and Aria, 4, Picture: Jamie Hanson

“I suppose in the back of my mind I feared that the cancer had come back, but kept putting the thoughts aside,” she said.

Eventually, she went for a scan and that is when she ended up in the specialist’s rooms with her family in tow. That’s when it was game-on for the family.

“The first diagnosis was difficult, but eventually the trauma fades and you start living life as if it is all behind you. But this diagnosis is a game changer. We no longer engage in the rat race. I watch my children breathe and I smile at the joy they bring. I am now present at every moment and that is a joy. Phil and I no longer just do the “hi and bye“ routine that is easy to slip into when you have a young family,” she said.

Suz Cox and husband Phil on their wedding day in October 2011.

Suz says her darkest moments come when she is in the shower. Like any mum of little kids, the bathroom is often the only place to find solitude and peace.

“I let the tears flow in the shower. I just bawl my eyes out, dry off and get back out there. The kids know that mum is not well and they pray for me but Phil and I try to keep things as normal as possible as they are very young.”

Suz was an elite gymnast strong, resilient with a determined mindset. She was offered a scholarship to train for the Sydney Olympics but turned it down due to family commitments. She won state and national titles and toured in a group called The Scream Team which performed halftime acrobatic shows at basketball games, primarily for the Brisbane Bullets.

“I have been a bit of an adventurer and loved to challenge myself. I always wanted to be a stunt woman, that was my dream.”

Suz remains that same tough, bounce-back, kick-ass woman and if anyone can take this deadly cancer head-on, she can.

To help this family https://www.gofundme.com/suzs-cancer-fight