I am fond of telling people that breast cancer isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me - not that I could see that when I was diagnosed in 1996 and was undergoing radiation and chemo. Four years later I read in our local paper about a group of survivors doing a 1000km bike ride around Tasmania which a group called Fenceliners was organising. I knew it was for me.
I trained hard on my new bike and set off to join them on March 2001 and it's the best adventure I've ever had. I learned more about breast cancer, met some wonderful survivors and made life-long friends plus saw Tasmania and got fit.
Undulating became a swear word. There are a few hills down there!
From that I joined Dragons-a-breast and made more friends plus had a lot of fun. I also joined the Fenceliners committee and helped organise the fourth adventure -- a 500km walk of the Hans Heysen trail in South Australia in 2003. As with the bike ride we were away for four weeks and the walking days were spaced out over this time with a rest day after any very long trek.
We talked to different groups at night about who we were and why we did these adventures. We wanted to prove that having had breast cancer wasn't a death sentence if you checked your breasts regularly and went to a doctor immediately if you found something unusual.
I'm sure we got the message across many times -- after all we were living proof of survivors not sufferers. Both trips were filled with fun and laughter and I'm grateful I had breast cancer so I could join them. It's just one hell of an entrance fee!!
--Sue
