Toowoomba woman using her voice to help those battling cancer
At just 43, with a four-year-old child in tow, this USQ staff member received a devastating cancer diagnosis which changed the course of her life forever.
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In 2012 Julie Shinners was given a survival rate of less than 50 per cent after a devastating breast cancer diagnosis.
Eight years later, not only has she survived the aggressive form of cancer, she is now using her experiences and her voice as an ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation to empower survivors and lend a hand to those currently battling.
Mrs Shinners noticed a bump on her breast during a routine self-examination on October 12 eight years ago and her gut instinct told her something wasn’t quite right.
“I had no family history of breast cancer whatsoever but I knew I should do something about it,” she said.
“I went to the doctor, was sent for a biopsy and got a phone call the next morning to say I had breast cancer.”
What followed was months of gruelling treatment to rid her body of cancer, including 16 weeks of chemotherapy, and 25 rounds of radiation therapy.
In the early stages, Mrs Shinners was given a five-year survival rate of less than 50 per cent.
When diagnosed at 43 her son was just four years old, and starting kindergarten.
Dying was not an option for her.
“My initial reaction was disbelief,” she said.
“I actually remember thinking they’ve made a mistake.
“But very quickly, when things started getting real, you realise that you’re going to have to find the headspace to get through it.”
Despite being declared cancer free and released from her oncologist’s care, Mrs Shinners still experiences long-term impacts of chemotherapy, like osteoporosis.
It’s a price to pay, but not one that stops her from living to the fullest.
“The thing is, I’m alive and I’m well and living my best life,” she said.
“Yes it’s something you have to live with but I’m incredibly happy.
“I had chemotherapy the first year my son went to kindergarten, and now he’s about to finish his first year of high school.
“I would think I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
For women who are facing a similar battle, wondering how they’re going to survive this, Mrs Shinners said it was about knowing yourself, and taking baby steps towards the end goal of beating cancer.
“The message in that is as a woman you should always be doing your self examination so you know what your breasts feel like and if something is different you already know.
“I knew immediately that that lump had not been there before and my instinct kicked in to go to the doctor and do something about it.
“Everybody’s journey is different.
“But I hope that people like me can be the example of the light at the end of the tunnel.
“In those dark, hard days you really can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.
“Hopefully people like me can be that example.”
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Updated modelling from National Breast Cancer Foundation estimates without adequate funding for research 30,000 lives could be lost to breast cancer over the next 10 years.
Of the 30,000, over half are predicted to be women who do not reach the five-year milestone after their diagnosis.
Mrs Shinners said the crucial difference between a woman living through breast cancer or succumbing to it was research.
“People think research is theoretical but the National Breast Cancer Foundation funds the research that keeps people alive,” she said.
“It doesn’t just save lives in general, it saved my life.”
