Speech at the 2001 Mini-Field of Women in Taree. It's a moving story of her experience with her grandmother (Mrs Elaine Kingston) through her breast cancer treatment.
 I feel a sense of something special to be invited to share in this ceremony to mark Australia Breast Cancer Day.
The Breast Cancer Network Australia is made up of people just like you here today. That is, people who have been touched in some way by breast cancer.
For some tragically “touched” seems hardly a strong enough word. Their lives feel some days like a semi trailer has rolled over them. And many moments of their days are a struggle.
I hope today you will receive some comfort in knowing your loved one is remembered and we esteem their lives.
For others, we recognise the impact that living and surviving the disease has on you and those you love.
Breasts have more impact and get more attention than most of us are prepared to admit. Subconsciously a woman considers them when she checks her appearance in the mirror. For a child they symbolise nurturing and care. In relationships they symbolise love and romance.
Whatever the situation they symbolise an aspect of your character that is deeply personal. When breast cancer is diagnosed it not only invades the physical aspect of your body it invades something deep and personal as well.
Cancer is not funny, but the situations and people you encounter along the way can bring uplifting warmth to your heart. And even a few laughs.
That is the value of support groups like the one represented today. They can talk, laugh and cry together. These women are living proof that gratefully many come out the other side, okay perhaps a little lopsided, but nevertheless they come through.
My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in early April last year. She had lumps removed before and heeded all the necessary preventative advice, however a needle biopsy was taken one week, a surgical biopsy the next with a mastectomy following just days after that. In just two weeks she had gone from a small lump, “that probably isn’t much” to a mastectomy.
Your days are determined by medical tests and procedures. For a period of time it is as if you loose all control of your body and future. You just get swept along, almost unable to absorb what is happening. You struggle inside to keep up with what is happening on the outside. Inside you keep thinking but I’m just me…and you wish you could wake up and it was just a bad dream.
But the bad dream does not go away and ladies like my Grandma go on to show a graciousness, determination and courage that inspire us. For Grandma that was also sprinkled with a generous dose of humour.
I wasn’t there to hear it, but as my Grandma prepared for surgery, putting on those stunning hospital gowns, you could hear from behind the curtains…
“Well so long…it’s been good to know you!”
She was talking to her breast!
I’ve heard one woman made up her own version of Bye Bye Birdie…..
Bye Bye Boo-by bye bye.
We’re sad to see you go,
Let’s get on with the show
Bye Bye Boo-by bye bye.
Another husband wrote to the tune Memories from CATS
Mammary, all alone in the moonlight,
I can dream of the old days;
There were two of you then
I remember… a time I knew what happiness was;
Let the mammary live again.
It’s hard to keep a sense of humour though, while you are waiting for results. It is if you are living in limbo. We kept believing in the best and taking each day…one day at a time. In the waiting we were able to care for each other.
Grandma gave us such a wonderful gift when she allowed us to participate in her care and support. It helped us cope with the uncertainty because we felt we were able to do something. Practical expressions of help as well as quiet moments together strengthened and enriched us. To care for my Grandma who cares so much for us was a privilege. And while we try to help those that suffer, wait and endure.
For some, following chemo and radiotherapy they go BALDLY where they have never gone before. Cancer robs you of the illusion that you can command you body to do what you want. So you fight to stay positive as your hair falls out and medication makes you feel ill.
As Charles Dickens says in the Tale of Two Cities…”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and likewise facing breast cancer brings forth an opportunity to love, support and care for those who desperately need it.
Women here that have survived breast cancer and women we remember today affirm their dignity as they show courage, determination and humour. We love you for it and remember you especially today.
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Samantha Fischer 
