Deans Marsh mum Lucy Quarterman back for Pier to Pub after beating breast cancer
A Deans Marsh mother-of-two will swim her 18th Pier to Pub on Saturday, after being forced to pull out of the event last year when she was diagnosed with multiple breast cancers.
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A Deans Marsh mother of two will compete in her 18th Pier to Pub on Saturday, after missing the swim last year due to multiple unexpected cancer diagnoses.
Lucy Quarterman was forced to pull out of the popular Lorne event in 2024, after being diagnosed with breast cancer in three areas.
The 54-year-old said she had multiple screenings and biopsies over the course of five years before finally being diagnosed in November 2023.
“I kept coming back because I felt there was something wrong, but doctors would tell me there was nothing to worry about,” she said.
“They decided to rule it out once and for all by doing a vacuum-assisted core biopsy.”
The specialised biopsy revealed a small invasive ductal carcinoma in Ms Quarterman’s right breast, which was luckily slow growing.
Much to Ms Quarterman’s surprise, a follow-up MRI also uncovered a benign breast lump and a non-invasive ductal carcinoma in situ in her left breast.
“Once they got a handle on it all, they decided they could tackle both sides with a lumpectomy,” she said.
“So I had a bilateral lumpectomy and lymph node surgery last January which went very well.
“And more importantly, my pathology results revealed I was cancer free.”
Ms Quarterman received treatment at Barwon Health, where she is also an employee.
“I had to have a course of radiation therapy, which was every day for three weeks at the Andrew Love Cancer Centre in Geelong,” she said.
“I carried on working on-site and would just nip off for 10 minutes each time and go make myself ‘more radiant’ as my colleagues used to say.”
After taking a few weeks to recover post-treatment, Ms Quarterman was back in the water as soon as she was given the green light.
“The week I finished treatment, I was straight back in the sea and cooling off because you get a bit hot through radiation,” she said.
“(Swimming) is great for mindfulness, and also keeping my arms moving felt really good after having the lymph node surgery on both sides.”
Now well and truly on the road to recovery, Ms Quarterman is excited to return to Lorne on Saturday for one of her favourite events of the year.
“I love the Pier to Pub weekend, it’s always great fun,” she said.
“Having to miss the swim in 2024 because of surgery was one of the most disappointing aspects of my treatment.
“I was in Lorne last weekend with the family having a crack at the course and I’m hoping to get another practice run in before Saturday.”
The Pier to Pub is one of the largest ocean swims in the world, attracting thousands of participants each year.
The 1.2km swim kicks off on Saturday at 11am, starting at the Lorne pier and finishing at the surf life saving club.
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Originally published as Deans Marsh mum Lucy Quarterman back for Pier to Pub after beating breast cancer
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