How a single decision nearly cost Sydney model Lisa Seiffert her life

Lisa Seiffert had always been diligent with her mammogram appointments but missing tests during Covid nearly proved fatal and she doesn’t want others to make the same mistake.

It took just two missed mammogram appointments for Lisa Seiffert’s life to change forever.

The 40-year-old Sydney model had always been diligent with screening but, like many during the pandemic, she found she neglected her appointments.

The decision nearly cost her life. When she eventually rescheduled in late 2022, doctors found a one centimetre lump in her right breast.

Ms Seiffert was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.

“Nothing prepares you for those words. I felt numb, like I had an emotional block. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything.”

Model Lisa Seiffert says delaying routine mammograms during Covid nearly cost her her life. Picture: Tim Hunter

And then everything became clear.

“I realised I have to do this. No one else can do this for me.

“It is such a lonely journey. It is just you and your body. It makes you see the world differently. I am a different person,” she said.

Lisa Seiffert undergoing treatment for breast cancer in late 2022. Picture: Supplied

Lisa is one of the estimated thousands of Australian women who have neglected annual mammogram tests, during the pandemic, sparking alarm in health experts.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there were 145,000 fewer mammograms performed between January and July 2020 compared with the same period in 2018.

Ms Seiffert is fortunately in remission and she credits the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney for saving her life.

“These guys go so above and beyond this place is so special. There‘s no other hospital like it and they give the best one-on-one care you could ever ask for,” she said.

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