Wendy West urges community to support Andrew Love Cancer Centre this Dry July

Cancer patient Wendy West, who was told she likely wouldn’t live into 2022, credits her strength to surviving family violence.

Wendy West is a Dry July ambassador.

Wendy West was told she would be dead by now.

The Bell Post Hill 55-year-old discovered she had terminal cancer by chance in June, 2021 after she fell over and broke her back.

Doctors noticed swollen lymph nodes during a scan.

Mrs West, a grandmother of four, had not shown symptoms and was “stunned” when she was diagnosed with a rare and fast-growing lung cancer.

“I just froze,” she said.

Mrs West was initially given 12-18 months to live.

That was more than two years ago, and Mrs West said she credits her fighting spirit to surviving family violence in a previous relationship.

She was even referred to Barwon Health’s palliative care team, given her incurable cancer and broken back, but was discharged when she improved.

In December 2021, Mrs West was doubtful she would ring in 2022 as cancer was spreading in her brain.

Her partner Dave West, a member of well-known Geelong band Glitter Gang, proposed to her on stage and they rushed down the aisle within weeks.

She said miraculously, the radiation treatment she underwent at Barwon Health’s Andrew Love Cancer Centre on cancer that had spread to her brain was effective.

“In the beginning, when we found it was terminal, we grieved … but then I just said to my partner ‘let’s just stop grieving now and get on with it and enjoy the rest of my life’,” Mrs West said.

“We make sure we do something special every weekend.

“I just want to live a normal life.”

Mrs West, who has cancer in her brain, lymph nodes and lungs, has had immunotherapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy as part of her treatment.

Cancer in other organs had been successfully treated and eradicated, she said.

Mrs West said she was the first person in Geelong to have been lucky enough to have met all criteria to be accepted for a chemotherapy clinical trial, which she is undergoing at Andrew Love Cancer Centre.

“I’m really lucky because I don’t really have after effects,” she said.

She says without the Andrew Love Cancer Centre andDr Shu Fen Wong, she would not be here today.

In support of the centre, Mrs West, who is still working as a purchasing officer, is an ambassador for Dry July team Billy’s Frothy Fund.

More funding could help the centre keep up with “incredible” innovations in treatment, she said.

Billy’s Frothy Fund, led by Barwon Health Foundation Dry July ambassador Billy Brownless and raising funds for the Andrew Love Cancer Centre, is aiming to defend its title as the number one fundraising team in Australia.

As of Thursday, it was in the lead for this year’s fundraiser, having attracted more than $50,000 in donations.

Donate at: https://www.dryjuly.com/teams/billy-s-frothy-fund-2

Originally published as Wendy West urges community to support Andrew Love Cancer Centre this Dry July