From the time I discovered I had breast cancer I had a theme song 'Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more ....' is is my story of how I am making sure Jack hit the road and ain't coming back no more.
Breast cancer threw me the biggest challenge of my life as I faced unemployment and losing all that I worked for since I was 17.
I would love to say I found myself surrounded by a loving family but I have always been on the outer - the original black sheep. I tried to involve my parents in my situation however they couldn't cope.
The struggle that I went through surviving on $210 per week at time while I was incredibly sick and could not work taught me a lot about my community and friends and the kindness of strangers and how they become friends in such times.
The constant worry every day of managing my bills and just hoping that I would find a job, and the many financial discrepancies I discovered in the social support system, drove me to become an advocate for better financial support for people with a life threatening illness.
Presently a group of friends and I are establishing a charity that will also provide financial support for people with cancer, and recently I did my first public speaking engagement at a forum, addressing the issue of easier access to superannuation; something I couldn't have managed before as I suffer from incredible shyness.
Prior to finishing my treatment I got a job with a charity, however, from the moment they discovered that I was a survivor, discrimination came my way and a couple of weeks later I was fired with no reason provided. I was fortunate that on that same day a previous employer phoned and offered me temp secretarial work which I have been doing ever since.
I have given up working two jobs even though financially the money would greatly assist because I now value my free time and realise that it is crucial for me to have it. I have worked two jobs since I was 17 so it is only in the last 2 years that I have known a work free weekend -- what bliss.
I have come to realise that it is okay to use a little of my money on things that make my heart happy -- so I subscribed this year to the cheap seats at the Opera and four times now my heart has soared to the rafters as music from decades ago is reproduced to stories as relevant now as when they were written.
My life is now full of the things that are important to me; my advocacy work, SWH, friends, and letting others know there is in a cancer diagnosis, great hope. Every day for me is a gift, good or bad, and I wrap myself in everything it contains.
I have the chance at the moment to do the things that matter to me, to change the world for others, to travel and to know how special that is. Time is not 24 hours but moments of sheer joy. Cancer gave me that, and reunited me with my sister and a new great niece.
--Rosemary
