Friendship and a love of physical culture has helped Jenine Bradburn through her bout with breast cancer

With the help of her friends at Pennant Hills Physical Culture Club, Jenine Bradburn was able to not only overcome the challenges of her treatment but even make a triumphant return to the sport she loves.

Jenine Bradburn endured a battle with breast cancer to return to competition with Pennant Hills Physical Culture Club.

It’s been a tough year for Jenine Bradburn.

The 52 year old from Oatlands was last year diagnosed with breast cancer. However, with the help of her friends at Pennant Hills Physical Culture Club, she was able to not only overcome the challenges of her treatment but even make a triumphant return to the sport she loves.

Jenine explains her journey in this MyStory for the Hornsby Advocate.

*How long have you been taking part in physie? I was about seven years old when I started at physie. I was at my original club, Dundas West Uniting until I was about 18 and still have friends today from my years there. I’ve been at Pennant Hills Physical Culture Club for close to 10 years now.

*What first got you into the sport? I guess it was my mum but my younger sister and I both did physie.

*Did you do any sport or dance before that? Definitely not. For anyone who knows me, I am not and have never been considered ‘sporty’ and I’m no dancer but I’ve stuck at physie because it’s a great middle ground and it really is great for you both physically and mentally.

*What was your initial reaction to your breast cancer diagnosis? Shock. Sadness. Anger. But looking back now it just seemed so surreal. I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

*What was your experience with the treatment and where are you at now? I am truly blessed. I came through the two surgeries amazingly well and the radiation, while I was exhausted, I managed through it exceptionally well. They talk a lot about your team of doctors and I can never thank them enough, especially the breast care nurses from the Mater Hospital who were great. I’m was also very fortunate to not have required chemotherapy.

*What was the journey like to get back to the competition floor? Up and down but it was great to have something else to focus on. To know that there were seven other people who depended on me, not that there was any pressure at all from anyone.

I came away (from the competition) with a huge sense of achievement. I’m no champion and never will be but given I was diagnosed early May and competed the first weekend in November, I almost felt like a champion.

*How supportive was your physie team throughout? What an amazing group of women! They call it a physie family and that’s exactly what it’s like. They really looked out for me and continue to do so. Denise my teacher was so wonderful, keeping a constant eye out to make sure I wasn’t over doing it.

*Was getting back into physie a main motivation for you in your recovery? Setting myself the goal to compete in the over 50s team was something I felt I needed to do for me. It also gave me something else to focus on other than the diagnosis and treatment. It gave me a sense of normality.