I was saved by the spirit of my mum, says breast cancer survivor Jo Buena
When breast cancer patient Jo Buena was scheduled for a double mastectomy on the anniversary of her mother’s death from the same disease, she knew it was a sign.
NSW
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When breast cancer patient Jo Buena was scheduled for a double mastectomy on the anniversary of her mother’s death from the same disease, she knew it was a sign.
She’d been diagnosed at 46 – exactly the same age as her mum, Odette – and she was determined to beat the insidious disease, and save her family further pain.
As she was wheeled into theatre for surgery in January last year, she felt her mother with her and believed she was looking over her in the days that followed, too.
“My mother lost her battle with breast cancer six years after she was diagnosed. She was 52 and the date was January 14,” Ms Buena said.
“I was diagnosed at the same age as she had been, and had my operation on the date she died – it felt like she was with me the whole time.
“When I got home a white dove hung around for three straight days outside my window; again I felt her close.”
When Odette was diagnosed in 1998, Ms Buena was 21, her sisters just seven and 16. It came as a shock; there was no family history of breast cancer. However, two of Ms Buena’s aunties and three cousins have since received the diagnosis.
She’s undergone testing to see if she has the faulty BRCA genes that increase the risk of developing breast cancer. She doesn’t, so the exact cause of her cancer remains unknown.
Ms Buena encourages her younger sisters to check regularly and, as an ambassador for Cancer Council’s Daffodil Day, encourages all women – and men – to do the same.
“For my mother, like many women, it started with a lump on her breast," Ms Buena said.
“She had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and it worked, until it returned four years later. She had another bout of chemo but two years later it returned again. And the third time, she was just defeated, she didn’t want to undergo treatment again.
“I’d had benign lumps removed when I was 40 but in 2022, just before Christmas, I felt a lump in my left breast, and it felt different and I just knew. Ultimately they found three cancerous tumours, two in my left, one in my right.”
Ms Buena underwent a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Surgery was successful but, as research has found cancer in women over 45 becomes more aggressive due to hormone levels, she doesn’t take anything for granted.
“Even after a mastectomy the cancer can return if there’s a tiny bit of breast tissue left. That’s why you should check up to your neck, under your arms and down to your ribs,” she said.
The Melbourne woman has also had her ovaries removed and is on hormone pills to aid in her recovery; she’s back at work as a sales analyst, and looking to the future with her husband Angelo.
Now in its 38th year, Daffodil Day will take place on August 22 when Australians can buy a bunch to support life-changing cancer research.
Visit daffodilday.com.au
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