‘I SURVIVE CANCER... TWICE!
TRISH RHONE OVERCAME HER SECOND DIAGNOSIS WITH THE HELP OF A MCGRATH BREAST CARE NURSE
Trish Rhone was gearing up for the festive season last year when she got the news that nobody wants to hear – she had breast cancer. Having already overcome Ewing’s sarcoma at just 12, the 35-year-old was left wondering why cancer had returned to her life for a second time.
The mum of two from Sydney endured a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction, chemotherapy, radiation and countless complications. But it was all worth it, as she is now cancer-free and excited to get life back on track.
Trish says she couldn’t have done it without the help of her Mcgrath Breast Care nurse, Joan Leow, who Trish says helped her navigate all the ups and downs of her treatment.
This week, Trish is marking her past 12 months by going to the Pink Test, where the Australian cricket team will take on England in the Fourth Test of the Men’s Ashes.
“I always thought I would go as a fan, but this year it’s going to be so much more significant,” she tells New Idea.
Recalling her diagnosis last December, Trish says it was her husband Sam who first discovered the lump.
Acknowledging that it felt abnormal, Trish booked in for an appointment with the GP who referred her on for a scan.
“They found lots of little lumps on the left breast and two more significant lumps,” Trish says.
She was referred on for a biopsy and called back into the doctor’s office for the results.
“When the GP told me it was cancerous, I wasn’t surprised but it felt so unfair,” she says. “I felt like it was happening all over again and it was incredibly unfair I had to do this twice.”
The mum put on a brave face for her family through the Christmas and New Year period, before meeting with her oncologist in January. Explaining to her two sons, Max, then 5, and Jake, then 2, what was going on was the hardest part.
“I said, ‘Mum is sick, that’s why I’ve been feeling so tired,’” she recalls. “I didn’t say the word cancer, but that I might lose my hair and asked them to be gentle with me.”
Trish’s previous battle with Ewing’s sarcoma at just 12 meant that she’d already received significant amounts of chemotherapy, which complicated her treatment for breast cancer. The oncologist recommended
undergoing surgery to remove the lumps first. In February, Trish underwent a bilateral mastectomy and a reconstruction. During the surgery, doctors discovered that her lump had doubled in size, meaning she would require radiation to treat the aggressive cancer as well.
By her side through appointments and setbacks was nurse Joan.
“She just knew the exact thing to say at the right time,” Trish says of Joan. “For me, she gave me that reassurance that we were doing the right thing. Even though we didn’t get the first choice of chemotherapy, she reminded me that I will still get the same results.”
During Trish’s first chemotherapy session, she suffered anaphylaxis.
“My husband, Sam, was there for that first chemo, which was so lucky because we didn’t expect it to work out the way it did,” she recalls.
The challenges didn’t stop there, and Trish suffered blood clots and cellulitis as side effects of her intense treatment. Thankfully, nurse Joan was there to lend an ear to her concerns.
“I knew that she was there for us through it all and that I could message her when I needed her,” says Trish. “When I had the blood clots I asked her about it, she’d follow up with the doctor and also check in on me. She genuinely cared what we were going through. Without her it would have been a lot more formal and rigid. She was that person who could clarify things
– I knew I could just message her with a random question and she’d get back to me.”
Joan, a mum of five, has been a nurse for 13 years and believes that working with patients like Trish for the Mcgrath Foundation is “a blessing and a privilege”. “When I first talked to Trish, she was enveloped with fear,” she says. “She had a lot of complications, one after another. She was very anxious – she’d call me after surgery and ask, ‘Is this normal? Is this OK?’ I try to normalise feelings, explain that it’s what most breast cancer
‘IT FELT INCREDIBLY UNFAIR I HAD TO DO THIS TWICE’
patients experience and that makes her feel not alone.
“Whenever Trish feels shaky, she gives me a call or texts. Sometimes, just talking about it helps. Trish is so young, so brave, she has her children and is so eager to go back to work.”
While Trish beat her cancer and returned to work as a preschool teacher, she can’t help but wonder why cancer struck twice for her, and underwent genetic testing to understand more.
“I did genetic testing and the two cancers aren’t connected at this point. There’s no risk for the boys or their kids, which is a great relief. I did ask, ‘How come there’s no connection, how come it happened twice? It doesn’t seem fair or make sense. Nobody knows why it happened.’”