Angela’s journey
Angela Betheras lives with pain and fatigue every day, but she won’t let it interfere with her commitment to walk 60 kilometres to raise funds for Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
A stage four cancer patient, Angela knows only too well the journey of fellow cancer patients and the desperate need to find a cure.
Angela was diagnosed with melanoma in October 2018 and last Christmas she was told to go home and “hope for a miracle.”
She knows there is no cure for melanoma but her immunotherapy treatment continues to give her hope that one day she will be declared NED – no evidence of disease.
Each year Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre hold a major fundraising event and despite COVID-19, this year will be no exception.
Angela and her dog Paddington will walk 60km over 10 days for the fundraiser, joining more than 2700 people who will either ride 200km or walk 60km raising money.
It is Angela’s first year participating in the walk but she says it is the least she can do for a centre that has given her so much support.
While many people think melanoma begins with a freckle or mole type cell, Angela’s began with an internal lump that she could feel on her back.
The lump didn’t bother her and caused her no pain, there was no colour to it and no bruise. She could feel it, but she admits, she ignored it – until a similar lump appeared on her thigh.
It was 19 scans, doctors and specialist appointments later that Angela ended up at Peter MacCallum.
Initially thought to be a soft tissue sarcoma cancer, Angela was diagnosed with stage four melanoma, with multiple tumours growing on her organs.
She was told had it been five years earlier when research was yet to discover the benefits of immunotherapy her life expectancy would have been about 18 months and she would have died from suffocation as the melanoma was in her lungs.
In May last year, Angela spent eight days at Peter MacCallum after her nervous system began to shut down as the side effects of immunotherapy took hold.
She said the cancers were growing and there were more tumours.
Angela’s oncologist explained the risks she was facing – ongoing treatment may leave her unable to walk.
“I took the risk that I might not walk again. I told them I would rather take the risk that I might have to walk with two sticks than lie in a coffin with straight legs.
“It is an insidious disease and it goes where it wants to.
“Immunotherapy is tough, it works on your nerve system to attack the cancer cells.
Angela’s organs are tumour free and her scans are now out to four to five months because she is considered stable.
She feels she is winning the fight but knows it is always there.
“My oncologist has started to smile. I live with a lot of pain and fatigue every day.
“But very early I decided I wouldn’t let it define me. It’s my oncologist’s job to keep me alive and my job is to get on with my life because I have a lot of plans.”
If running her Darnum farm and business Nickelby’s Yarragon is not enough to test her strength, Angela said the fundraising walk was important so she could prove to herself that she could do it.
“There is no cure for melanoma as there is no cure for many cancers, so more funds are needed to find cures for all cancers and this yearly fundraising event helps immensely.
“So many people are impacted by cancer and it doesn’t matter where you have treatment, the drugs and regimes have been developed in research hospitals such as Peter MacCallum so without the funding this work cannot continue and benefit not only their patients but patients all over Australia, including here at Warragul,” she said.
Angela and Paddington will begin their 10 days of walking on Thursday.
Her plan is for four kilometres each morning and another couple of kilometres in the afternoon. With an immunotherapy session amid the 10 days of walking, Angela jokes she might be well enough to squeeze out seven kilometres on her good day.
To donate and support Angela’s walk, go to: https://my.unitetofightcancer.org.au/angelabetheras