Breast cancer: NSW woman’s diagnosis leads her to help others
A brush with breast cancer last year pushed Lori Phegan to pursue the dream of becoming a nurse at 47. READ HER STORY.
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WHEN business owner Lori Phegan discovered she had stage three breast cancer in July 2019 he wasn’t expecting the grim diagnosis to mark a turning point in her career.
The 47-year-old endured chemotherapy, surgery and 25 rounds of radiation over the course of 12 months before she was declared cancer free.
“I found a lump on my left breast and went and had a scan and it came back clear and the doctor came back and said let’s have some extra tests and that’s when I got the malignant lump,” she said.
“I underwent chemotherapy almost straight away and that started in July and finished in October and then after chemo I had surgery, started radiation in January and I did 25 session and then it was all gone. It was a complete pathological response.”
The former HR professional who runs an e-commerce gift shop never expected that the nurses she met along the way at the Western Sydney Local Health District would push her to reassess her own career choices.
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“When I had cancer, the lady looking after me during my surgery was about 50 and had a student badge on and she told me she did a career change,” she said.
“This has always been something I’m interested in but I always thought ‘I’m too old now’ but seeing her and having cancer I realised life is too short so why don’t I retrain?
“I had such a nice experience with the breast care nurse who came to see me, the nurses associated with chemotherapy, oncologist and my surgery. I saw just how important they are and how they can make your journey as a patient so much nicer.”
Ms Phegan is now studying nursing at TAFE NSW and did a placement in an aged care home during the COVID pandemic.
“It’s such a privilege to care for people. So many of these residents hadn’t seen a visitor for at least three months so to be able to be there and care for them is such a privileged position.”
CANCER STORM MAY BE ON ITS WAY TO AUSTRALIA
Testing numbers for some of Australia’s most common cancers rapidly declined during the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic – suggesting that Australia could have a cancer storm on its hands.
There were more than 70,000 mammograms performed for breast cancer screening in March this year but the number dramatically fell to just 1,100 tests in April, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Overall, there were 145,000 fewer mammograms between January and June 2020 as compared to the same period in 2018.
Experts are concerned without early detection and regular screening, many Australians could lose their battle to cancer
“BreastScreen Australia services were paused in late March in response to the pandemic. Most services reopened within a month, and all services are now operational, with appropriate measures in place to protect clients and staff,’ AIHW spokesman Richard Juckes said.
“Ongoing monitoring will be important to better understand how the pandemic has affected Australians’ health now and into the future.”
Cervical cancer numbers were expected to drop in 2020 with the program switching from screening every two years to every five years but it is not yet clear how much of the decline is due to COVID.
Overall 363,618 cervical cancer tests were conducted between January and June 2020 — a more than 50 per cent decline since 2018 when 807,553 tests were conducted in the same period.
Bowel cancer numbers declined in 2020 but experts believe the impact is not related to COVID-19 as at home bowel testing kits were allowed to run throughout lockdown.
“Evidence shows early detection saves lives, so it is important people prioritise cancer screening. Measures are in place to ensure people can catch up on their screening safely during COVID-19.” Mr Juckes added.
Primary schoolteacher Louise Pope was diagnosed with breast cancer in February this year and is grateful she didn’t put off seeing the GP.
“I found a lump in January and I found out that it was cancerous in the middle of February 2020. It was at stage two,” she said.
“I had a lumpectomy and I’ve just finished five months of chemotherapy. I’ve done 16 rounds of chemo and now I start radiotherapy for about 25 sessions.”
Ms Pope said if she found the lump during the peak of COVID-19 – it would have been harder to get a quick diagnosis.
“If it was a couple of weeks later – people were really into lockdown I may not have gone into the GP as readily as I did.”