Our journey began in 1988. On Margaret's 44th birthday, the specialist gave her the news that the lump in her right breast was malignant. After having the lump removed in 1988, we have had 19 years of clear mammograms.

It was only five days after my husband and I got married on 28 Oct 2006 that I had my left breast and 22 lymph nodes removed. We had actually decided to marry a few months before my diagnosis and ended up delaying my operation by a week with encouragement from my surgeon so we could get married as planned.

My guardian angel

Vin and I had only been together 18 months when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 24. I don't know what I would have done without him. He has been there with me through every tear, every doctor's appointment and every time I felt too sick to move. 

I thought that 2005 was going to be one of the best years of my life. My husband Greg and I had been married for five years at the time, but had been together since we were 17 years of age.  It was going to be a great year because we were going to try and start the family of which we had always dreamed.

I was fit, happy, and life was fantastic with plans of travel and a new man in my life. We had met in 2005 on a trip to South America and he lived overseas, but close enough to visit me and of course phone calls and email happened regularly too. I was getting hooked.

Inner strength

My partner was very distressed by my breast cancer diagnosis. His mood deteriorated quite rapidly to the extent he needed medication to help him cope. He supported me by accompanying me to various doctors' appointments and recording important details to assist in the decision making process. However, when, in conjunction with my specialists, I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy and have my ovaries removed, he was in total disagreement. My priority was to increase my survival rate but he felt this treatment was unnecessary. This conflict caused an enormous amount of tension between us.

Family Strength
 
On 5 November 1996, at the age 34, six months into a bitter divorce, three children Alex 12, Thomas 10 and Katie 8, two dogs a bird and discussing the purchase of a cat, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Donna and JacquiMy name is Donna I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 aged 36, my partner Jacqui (Jac) and I have been on an amazing journey since and we would like to share a part of that story with other couples that may feel they are alone which of course you are definitely not.

Falling in love

I was diagnosed in 1999 with inflammatory breast cancer and was not given a very good prognosis. I was a single parent and my son had been married one month earlier, so I was on my own.

My husband Roly and I met in early 2002 in the haze of deep grief. We both lost our spouses of 31 years just weeks apart. Although 20,000kms apart, we developed the strongest bond imaginable. We supported each other as only people who have been through the trauma of watching a loved partner slipping away slowly can. My first husband had had melanoma whilst Roly's wife had had breast cancer.

My rock

We are the ‘Jarretts', Patricia and Ed. Nine years ago we retired to our beautiful Caves Beach, for what we thought would be a life of pleasure and fun. Instead, after 50 years of marriage we now truly understand love, strength, loyalty, hope, faith and trust.

A Happy Christmas

I am very fortunate as I never felt I was alone throughout my journey.  My husband made sure that he and my daughter were with me when I received my diagnosis of breast cancer in October 2006.

From the time that a lump was found in my wife’s breast I had a suspicion that it might not be good news. I took a fairly clinical approach to it though and assumed that if the diagnosis for cancer was positive we would just deal with it.

Until a little over two years ago, I paid very little attention to any news or publicity about breast cancer - the disease and the statistics.  It didn't have anything to do with me.  I had never been touched by breast cancer, nor had I really come into contact with anyone who had been touched by it, either directly or indirectly.  Now I have a personal interest since I met my partner Jo, who is a breast cancer survivor. 

The Shed

We had been married over 40 years. Four children - they all bring with them their challenges, joys and pain. We had weathered it all.

As a woman undergoing surgery for the third time, you never really get used to the words, you have a tumour.

The last biopsy was supposed to have come back negative as I have never felt better. The shock and impact of those words leave you dumbfounded and scared.