Nurse’s story gives patients new hope
FOR TWENTY years, oncology nurse Sue Gordon has dedicated her life to looking after hundreds of cancer patients.
But when a routine mammogram returned her own breast cancer diagnosis, it threatened to turn the grandmother’s life upside down.
This year marks a decade since Sue received the news, leading to months of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as years of medication.
Sue lost both breasts at age 50 as part of that treatment.
Despite all she’s been through, Sue believes she’s one of the lucky ones, having received the all-clear as a direct result of early detection.
She’s now encouraging women to ensure they keep up with regular checks.
She said mammograms could be uncomfortable, but “well worth it” to avoid even worse pain.
“The first thing people think of even though you’re told many times over is death, cancer is death, but it’s not the case anymore,” she said.
“There’s so much research out there and there’s so many survivors, but early detection (is key) and that’s where I was lucky.
“It can be scary and the thing I found awkward as a nurse was you were saying to people that we face it, we attack it and move forward, but then when it’s yourself and you start thinking I have to be brave because I’ve told everyone else to.”
Now working in palliative care, Sue believes it’s made her a better nurse because she can empathise with the fear her patients endure.
On Sunday, Sue attended the High Tea For Her event, a fundraiser to support Townsville mum Krystal Matsen who is fighting cancer for the second time in less than two years.
While Sue has never met Krystal, she attended the event to show the breadth of support from the wider Townsville community.
Sue heard Krystal’s story at Relay For Life.
Sue said many people forgot the impact a diagnosis had on a sufferer’s family.
But she paid tribute to their support in helping others get through the illness.
“If you stay mentally strong and you’ve got a very supportive group around you that help you maintain that strength,” she said.
“There’s more that overcome it than don’t and it’s sad that some people don’t, but I think (it’s important) to avoid people getting the wrong impression and becoming fearful of it.
“If they do know there’s help out there and there’s a good chance of the cure, more and more people will come forward and have that test.”