Check regularly and check thoroughly.
That is the advice from Finley’s Wendy Daniel more than 12 months after she found a lump in her breast which was diagnosed as a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.
While she is still recovering, Wendy is sharing her story and running a fundraiser this Breast Cancer Awareness Month to ensure more women have the information and the support they need.
Wendy’s Pink Up for Breast Cancer event will be held at the Finley Community Gym this Friday night.
Participants are encouraged to complete 57 reps of an exercise of your choice, or join Wendy’s team to run or walk for 57km.
The very specific number represents the 57 Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer each and every day.
“It will be held from 5pm and it’s $10 per adult and $5 per child,” Wendy said.
“There will be a barbecue dinner, drinks and a raffle, and all proceeds will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
“I will complete my 57 exercises as soon as I arrive at the gym, so I can then be on the door and meeting and talking to people.”
Having lost her maternal grandmother to breast cancer, Wendy has been getting early breast cancer screening for some years.
But at the age of 45, when she missed her annual screening in February this year she did not necessarily rush to find a replacement appointment.
Wendy’s not usually one for a self-breast check because she always felt she would never be able to tell the difference, but by chance she decided to give it a try.
And imagine her surprise, and fear, when she did indeed feel something.
“I do rely on screening and I knew I was running behind on that, so I made a random decision to do a self check one Friday night.
“I found something on the left side.
“When you do a self check you are looking for anything that feels or looks different.
“Normally you’ll feel a small, hard lump, where you can feel all the edges.
“I went to the doctor and they started testing on August 23 last year, and I got my official diagnosis on September 5, 2022.
“We (my husband Matt and myself) were devastated.”
Wendy was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer - a rare and aggressive form of the disease which affects only 10 to 15 per cent of those diagnosed with breast cancer.
It only responds to chemotherapy.
“At the time the medical team was saying it was early stages, but that it was also a difficult case.
“But they have to be honest about what’s ahead, and every member of my medical teams seemed positive about what was to come.
“I was told that if I had gone for my normal breast screen in February it might have been too small to see and if I had waited until the next February it might have been much further along.
“Screening can miss small tumours sometimes, so it is really important to do those self checks in between screenings.”
It was a whirlwind week for Wendy and her family - including three children then ages 16, 14 and 10 - in the week following her diagnosis, and chemotherapy was started within 10 days.
She had four rounds of treatment over the next eight weeks, followed by weekly chemo for 12 weeks.
“It was pretty awful.
“I started losing my hair after about two weeks and I was nauseous and exhausted.
“I had an amazing support network though - family and friends were helping around the clock.
“Meals were cooked for us and I would find flowers on the bench - it all just helped me keep going.”
Wendy finished her chemotherapy in January this year, but it was just the start of what was to come.
In this time further testing revealed she had brca2, a genetic mutation that made her susceptible to this form of breast cancer and other cancers.
She knew of a genetic inheritance possibility on her mother’s side, but this genetic mutation was linked to her father’s side of the family.
So once her medical team were comfortable her treatment for breast cancer had taken, pre-emptive treatment for other cancers would now take place.
“I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction in March, and as a carrier of brca2 I am at high risk of ovarian and pancreatic cancer.
“So four months after my mastectomy I went in for a full hysterectomy.
“Preventative measures and screening for pancreatic cancer are not as simple, so it’s just about being as healthy as you can be.”
While saying her body is “exhausted and depleted”, Wendy said she is feeling “much better” than this time last year.
And that is why she is putting her body on the line to participate in the physical Pink Up for Breast Cancer challenge.
“It’s about being as healthy as I can, but also about fundraising and raising awareness,” she said.
“There are 1000 women under 40 diagnosed with breast cancer every year.
“So I really want to reach those women in their 20s and 30s and encourage them to self check and see their doctor if they feel or notice anything different.
“I have even spoken to older women who have confessed to never having screenings or self-checking.”
For more information on screening, self checks, support and resources, go to www.nbcf.org.au.
The website also includes information on the programs Wendy’s fundraiser will support.
If you cannot attend on Friday night but would still like to support Wendy’s fundraiser, go to www.fundraise.nbcf.org.au/fundraisers/wendydaniel.