This Dry July, breast cancer survivor Sue Woodward is encouraging more Australians to go alcohol-free after the fundraiser helped her receive “invaluable” services.
Eight years ago, Greystanes local Ms Woodward was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time during a routine check-up. She was told by her doctor that she would need a double mastectomy, which lead to her having eight correctional surgeries.
During her surgeries, Ms Woodward had to cope with the death of her father and also help her daughter go through a divorce.
“I remember seeing people at the supermarket smoking outside or eating a packet of chips and thinking ‘why me?’” she said.
Ms Woodward said the private hospitals she was in and out of didn’t have the emotional and mental support resources that she needed. It wasn’t until a friend handed her a card with Cancer Council’s Information and support phone line on it that she was able to finally get the help she needed.
“I realised I need to get over this because I was not enjoying my life,” she said.
Dry July helps the Cancer Council to fund its 13 11 20 Information and Support Service, a private and confidential Information and Support Line run by experienced healthcare professionals. The service is available to anyone who is affected by or concerned about cancer, and works to connect Australians with relevant cancer support, information, and resources.
When Ms Woodward called 13 11 20, she was able to speak to one of the Cancer Council’s healthcare professionals straight away.
“He asked me how I felt and what was wrong. He just listened to me and didn’t say anything negative. He said, ‘it’s not your fault you know?’ and agreed with me that it wasn’t fair,” she said.
Not only did the Cancer Council support phone line help Ms Woodward with her mental wellbeing, but they also alerted her to familiar testing and research.
“We sent my tumours for testing and only found out recently that there were two genes that meant you had a 22 per cent higher chance of developing breast cancer more than once,” she said.
“If [the healthcare professional] hadn’t mentioned the importance of looking into familiar testing, we wouldn’t have known to check and be open to more research into cancer. I wouldn’t listen to family or friends, but I could really listen to him.”
As the impacts of COVID continued to be felt across Australia in the last year, the Cancer Council said its 13 11 20 Cancer Information and Support Service received over 41,000 calls from Australians affected by cancer in need of support. Now, the Cancer Council is calling on more Australians to help the charity continue to provide its “much-needed” service for the community by fundraising this Dry July.
To find out more about Dry July go to dryjuly.com/cancercouncil.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.