Category: Past Member’s Musings

IT WOULD BE NICE   It would be nice to have a cleavage It would be nice to be able to bend forward without worrying Using your hand over your chest or a shirt tight around your neck It would probably be nice to see a hairdresser and use colour and wear a bikini in…

21-9-03 Conversation #1 “I have a really bad back” I say, staring past the young lady Doctor I have chosen because she has the same name as my best friend. I have to take a deep breath because there is no point in coming here unless I screw up my courage to add “and I…

The dawning of a brand new day as out of bed I climb. I’ve found since I got breast cancer, I’m pretty short of time.I’d love to accept invites, but my friends don’t have a clue I’m just so bloody busy with the things I have to do. First task I’m in the kitchen with…

Many women in the group express frustration at being told to be positive, as it implies there is no place for feelings of sadness, anger or fear. Within the group women are are encouraged to express whatever they may be feeling and are supported to do so. For many, the group is one of the…

Have you ever come across someone going through a time of grief or sadness, and not known  what to say?  Have you felt uncomfortable and found it easier to say nothing at all?  Pretend it hadn’t happened, or even avoided the person?  Me too. But now I have been on the other side of the…

  I love her and she loves me. For the past twelve years Seiko and I have been constant companions. The bond between us is powerful and not fully understood. Her cataract-clouded eyes shine green in the light these days, but she can still sense when I am in need of her. The love simply…

  It’s Tuesday, so I do what I always do on a Tuesday. I get up and take my morphine and, to ward off the dreaded constipation, its ‘sad little mate’, coloxyl and senna. I shower and rub on the cream that has almost vanished the horrific burn I copped from the radiotherapy. I dress…

  I remember the moment I discovered the first lump in my breast. I was at Phil’s unit for the long weekend. He lived in Sydney, and I in Brisbane. We were commuting regularly to spend time with each other, enjoying our romance. In hindsight, it was just as well I was at his place….

It would be nice to have a cleavage It would be nice to be able to bend forward without worrying Using your hand over your chest or a shirt tight around your neck It would probably be nice to see a hairdresser and use colour and wear a bikini in summer It’s sad that I…

One group member recently reflected on words and phrases that she and many women with secondary breast cancer find unhelpful. She writes On being a “Survivor” “The other phrase I have difficulty with is “Survivor”.  I personally have never referred to myself as a “Survivor”.  If I ever feel the need to label myself or…