Em's Journey: Cheers to 10 Years!

Pop the champagne! What an incredible milestone to be able to share. Gosh, I feel like jumping on a sofa like Tom Cruise did on Oprah all those years ago or climbing the highest mountain and screaming from the top or throwing the biggest party the world has ever seen with no expense spared but instead I am just happy to celebrate this very special occasion with Ryan, our girls, my family and close friends.

OK, who am I kidding......

This is not just any old day, this is bloody HUGE and a milestone of this magnitude deserves something BIG, it also needs to be something I will never forget, a little crazy perhaps...

So I've decided to jump out of a plane!!

Yep, to celebrate 10 years cancer free, I have made the super brave (let's go with crazy!) decision to step way out of my comfort zone and skydive! Pretty cool hey, and to make it even more special is that my amazing Dad (and my good friend Kerrin) is going to do it with me and we are using this opportunity to raise funds for Breast Cancer Care WA! My previous significant cancer-free milestones have always involved some sort of overseas trip and with international travel off the cards this year (and for some time yet), I thought this was the next best thing - at least it involves a plane (ha ha!). To be honest, I haven't been thinking about it too much as the idea makes me sick with nerves and sometimes I wonder why I am doing this but I know I have to do something momentous!

So how does it feel to reach such a significant milestone? It feels fantastic and I thank my lucky stars every day that I am still here and living a wonderful life, 10 years on. Of course, it hasn't all been smooth sailing, as you know. The first few years were incredibly difficult. It really was life changing but as mentioned in previous posts, I have been so incredibly fortunate to have had such amazing support from family and friends over the years and I really believe this support has been vital in my recovery and ongoing good health. Here's to 10 years!

When my surgeries, chemo & radiation treatment were over I was warned that it may bring many negative emotions including depression. Fortunately for me, I didn't experience these feelings and I was just incredibly focused on remaining positive and making the most of every new day. I was also told that not many people feel 'normal' again or that there was a 'new normal' following a cancer diagnosis but my life has continued on relatively normally. What has been profound is the greater sense of purpose and meaning I now have. In fact, sometimes I see the cancer diagnosis as a blessing in disguise, as crazy as that might sound. It has definitely taught me to be more spontaneous, evaluate what is important to me, change my career path, enjoy more holidays, read more books and spend more time with people who make me happy and more importantly who make me laugh. Life is too short, right!

As mentioned, it has been a number of years since the surgeries, chemo & radiation and I hope to keep it that way. What some of you may not realise is that whilst I haven't had regular hospital visits, I have been taking medication every single day and have so for the past 10 years. This medication is a drug called Tamoxifen and it has proven to lower the recurrence rate in breast cancer. This drug has been a dream for me as the cancer has not returned and I have not endured any terrible side effects (I'm considered one of the lucky ones!) and I wish I could take it forever. I suppose you could say that I consider this my little safety net. Initially, it was recommended that I take this drug for 5 years but after worldwide clinical trials and excellent research, it was deemed effective to take this drug for 10 years (maximum). So please wish me luck when I cease this drug in a few months time.

Speaking of clinical trials, you may recall that I was part of a 5 year worldwide trial called D-Care. This trial studied the effect of Denosumab to see if it could prevent disease recurrence in the bone or in any other part of the body, for those who are at high risk of cancer recurrence. This trial involved me having 12-weekly injections in my stomach and Vitamin D and Calcium tablets every day for 5 years. The trial finished in 2016 and sadly Denosumab was not shown to improve the outcome and the trial concluded.

Interestingly and something that I have only recently learned, after having a bone density scan is that I have Osteopenia. My GP suggested having the scan done due to my extensive treatments over the years (chemotherapy & radiation) and having gone through early menopause due to Tamoxifen. Osteopenia is the early stages of Osteoporosis and my GP was concerned with my results as this condition usually affects woman 65 years and older. We are now trying to avoid the early onset of Osteoporosis by including more calcium in my diet and trying to incorporate some weight bearing exercises. We hope with these changes, I will avoid taking supplements and medication in the future.

I am often asked about my feelings of recurrence. Sure, in the early days it was at the forefront of my mind and I was incredibly fearful that the cancer would return and end my life. This was terrifying given my girls were so young. As each month and year goes by however, the less I think about recurrence and the more confident I feel about the future.

Reflecting on the past decade, we have made some deliberate and significant changes as a family to our lifestyle and also our careers. Both Ryan and I have had pretty big career changes and we have never been happier. Ryan's dream for many years was to one day become a firefighter but it is an incredibly competitive application process in WA with over 1,400 applications received for only 24 spots each year. After many months of rigorous and gruelling testing and a lot of perseverance and determination (blood, sweat and tears), Ryan was offered a position! Honestly, we thought we had won the lotto! It has been a really positive change for our family with Ryan's roster affording lots of family time which is wonderful for our girls as Ryan has always been a very hands-on Dad. Around the same time that Ryan changed his career, I left the corporate hospitality world for a role in the not-for-profit sector. I was given a wonderful opportunity to join Ronald McDonald House in WA where I met some beautiful people who are still close friends today. It was in this role where I gained an understanding of the not-for-profit industry and acquired some important skills which led me to being offered a fabulous role at Breast Cancer Care WA a couple of years later - what a perfect fit! I love my job which involves working closely with corporate partners and community fundraisers and it is a wonderful feeling knowing that we make such a huge difference to all those diagnosed with breast cancer in WA. I work with an incredible team of women who are like family and I love them! So don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't completely change your career in your 40's. We both did it :)

I have been so fortunate to celebrate many wonderful occasions over the past 10 years for which I am forever grateful. I wish I could write about them all but we haven't got all day so I have highlighted some stand-outs ... celebrating my 40th birthday and 5 years cancer free celebrations with a five week holiday in the USA with both my family and Ryan's family (& Lizzy and her family surprised us in NYC and Ryan and I got to see Coldplay live at Metlife Stadium!), Baylee graduating primary school and transitioning into high school, celebrating my Mum & Dad's 70th birthdays and their 50th wedding anniversary, meeting my penpal Sasa for the very first time in Paris after writing to each other for over 30 years! (bucket list!), many celebratory dinners and staycations with the 'Golden Girls', Ryan becoming a firefighter (my very own Mr May!), surprising my gorgeous friend Kim in Sydney when I was over there on a work trip a few years ago (best reaction ever!!), our fabulous Gold Coast and Byron Bay trip with Ryan's parents and his brother Kyle & sis-in-law Lisa, selling our house and renovating our new home in Scarborough, watching State of Origin NSW Blues beat QLD Maroons live at Optus Stadium (another bucket list!), Jaz getting her first job and winning Young Athlete of the Year (CrossFit), a fluffy new addition to the family - our beautiful dog Piper (we won't mention the cat - he's an a$$hole! ha ha), surprising Lizzy & Stevie in Bali for their 40th birthdays, lazy long lunches, dinners out and girls weekend away with special friends, celebrating Kyle & Lisa's secret wedding (that we missed due to lockdown - still devastated about that) but so grateful to have been at the big reveal engagement party a few weeks ago in the Gold Coast and surprising my childhood bestie's (Kim's) daughters by arriving at their home in Sydney (anyone else notice the amount of surprises in there - I just love them!)

On that note, cheers to the next ten years!

Fun Facts:

- You can still see the outline of my radiation burns (scars) on my chest and under my arm

- My hair, eyelashes and eyebrows have never been the same since chemo

- As all of my lymph nodes were removed from under my right arm, I am very careful when having my blood pressure taken, injections or blood tests done and always ensure this is done in my left arm, to reduce the risk of lymphodema

- I haven't touched a Diet Coke or Tim Tam since diagnosis (not that I consumed these often but in the early days of my diagnosis I read up about how many chemicals were in them and that was it!)

- My blog has been viewed by 55,000 people from all over the world. This includes the USA, Russia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany, China, France and Canada!