Researcher
I am a 54-year-old mum of three teenage girls. I was diagnosed de novo metastatic 5 years ago. My metastatic cancer has been relatively well-controlled, with only two periods of disease progression. I work full-time as a researcher at a university in Sydney, Australia. I love my job and my family and, like everyone else, struggle to get the balance right, especially trying to fit in medical appointments and treatment.
Work has always been incredibly important to me and I have been lucky enough to be able to continue to work either full-time or part-time since my metastatic diagnosis. When I was first diagnosed, I had just started in a new position as a lecturer at the University of Sydney. My boss was incredible – employing someone to work 2 days a week to help me, and shifting all my courses online so I didn't have to worry about lecturing face-to-face. Some people asked how I could continue to work given all I was going through. However, work distracts me, gives me something to focus on other than the cancer, gives me a sense of control, and is very rewarding. What's more, financially, I need to keep working as I have a young family.
Despite having a very positive experience with my employers, it is still incredibly hard to convey to people what your diagnosis means and that, in my case, I've had periods of being very well punctuated by periods of acute illness requiring weeks or months off work. I look well, so some people find it hard to understand what my diagnosis means. They want to know: Am I going to die or not (we'd all like to know that!)? “Why are you so distressed emotionally when you don't look like you are ill?”
People still equate cancer and cancer treatment to hair loss and weight loss, which can be what advanced breast cancer looks like, but not all the time. Making decisions around working is also difficult – I’m full of guilt that I don't know how long I have left so should perhaps be spending more time with my family.
