Home Kristyn Dawe

Kristyn Dawe

Mount Gambier SA Diagnosed age 38 So all I can say, is everybody must be vigilant and if you ever have any queries, see your doctor. Kristyn Dawe with daughter Emily on her 4th birthday  In October 2004 I went to my local GP for a routine check up, and asked him about a lump I had just noticed in my armpit. At the time I had a pretty bad cold, and we just put it down to swollen glands. However, when the lump was still there by end of November, my GP ordered a fine needle biopsy to try and figure out what it was. The next few weeks were a bit of a blur, with having biopsies, ultrasounds, bone scans, x-rays etc. Finally, on December 23rd I was sent to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where I received the news that the lump was actually breast cancer in my lymph glands in the armpit. Not the best Christmas present!! My doctor told me to go home and enjoy Christmas with my husband and small daughter, and booked me in for surgery on January 10. On the morning of my surgery, I had more tests and had a small region of concern in the left breast, which was marked with a carbon marker. In hindsight, that was the most painful experience of my whole journey!! Just before my surgery, my doctor told my husband and I that should the area marked turn out to be something sinister he may have to do a mastectomy instead of just the lumpectomy and node clearance. As you can imagine this was a very traumatic time, however the support of my husband on that day was amazing. Waking up later that day, I was told that they had only had to do a lumpectomy as everything was all clear in the breast and that they removed all the lymph glands in the armpit with the cancer only restricted to one. This was great news. I was now able to be home to celebrate my daughters' second birthday the next week. My post op appointment involved visits to the oncology department, who advised me that in my case I had a choice with regard to chemotherapy. Due to the nature of my cancer, I was able to receive a hormonal treatment called Zoladex, which involved a needle every 28 days in the stomach for 26 months. Being a very active person, I chose this option as I felt it would have less impact on my life as chemo seemed to make people sick when they really aren't. My only side effects are that it put me into menopause. Fortunately my husband and I had decided to only have one child, so this really was not too big an issue. The main side effect I had was the night sweats and hot flushes - a small price to pay. In June 2005, my family and I also had to "move" to Adelaide for 5 weeks for my stint of radiotherapy. So every Monday morning for five weeks we would pack up the car, drive for four and a half hours so I could receive my five minutes of treatment everyday, and then drive home very Friday afternoon, so that I could play netball. This was my saving grace, as for that afternoon I was normal - that was my time. My team knew of course but the opposition didn't and I could just play, have fun and not worry. Now, in June 2007, it has been four months since I finished my course of Zoladex. I am still getting the hot flushes, which may be attributed to the Tamoxifen, but I am feeling on top of the world. I have had scans etc, which show nothing abnormal. And I am now able to enjoy life with my husband and daughter. I have become involved as much as I can in spreading the news that everybody must self-examine. This disease knows no boundaries, it can affect us all. I was a person who played sport, never smoked and didn't really drink much alcohol, but was still affected. So all I can say, is everybody must be vigilant and if you ever have any queries, see your doctor. Last Updated 7 December 2007