Like many young mums, Corinne has a habit of putting her family and children first.
Brisbane-based Corinne and her husband, Steve, spend their weekends couriering their two young girls, aged 8 and 4, to sporting commitments, exploring local parks and catching up with friends at local bowls clubs and breweries.
Last year they were busy living an active lifestyle. In fact, Corinne felt she was the fittest she had been in her life—even smashing out high intensity training at the gym around her other commitments.
However, nothing could have prepared Corinne for a shock diagnosis of Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in August 2023.
She was just 39.
“I was lying on the couch watching TV and I just had my hand on my chest, I don’t even know why, and I felt this little pea-shaped lump. I had never noticed it before and, all of a sudden, it was there,” Corinne recalls.
“It came totally out of the blue and I had no other symptoms at all.”
Initially, Corinne wasn’t too worried, however after it remained for a few days and with encouragement from Steve, she booked a GP appointment. This quickly led to a mammogram and biopsy.
Corinne was in shock when told that she had a seven-centimetre cancerous mass in her right breast.
“I never thought for a second it would be cancer—it felt like being in a dream or something, hearing that.”
“You can imagine my state of mind at that point in time, not knowing what was going to happen to me. But I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy, to reduce the risk of it also happening on the other side.”
Even while working through her diagnosis and treatment plan, Corinne continued to prioritise her family above all else.
“I told only Steve at the beginning. I waited until after my first appointment with the Mater doctor before I even told my Mum, because I didn’t want her worrying about what the possibilities were.”
“I wanted my family to know what the treatment plan was when I told them the news.”
While testing initially revealed Corinne’s cancer was contained to the breast, the routine removal of lymph nodes from her axilla (under her armpit) during the mastectomy surgery at Mater Private Hospital revealed that her cancer had spread.
“My doctor, Dr Ben Lancashire, and Mater Breast Cancer Nurse, Ash (Mondolo), came together to tell me the news, which was really devastating to hear.”
“I was totally petrified that I wouldn’t get to see my girls grow up.”
Corinne’s new treatment plan meant undergoing 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 15 rounds of radiation, and the ongoing use of hormone inhibitors, to conquer the spread and reduce the risk of her cancer returning.
“I think at the time I was trying to be really strong for my family and pretend like it wasn’t really that bad, but each round of chemotherapy was very hard. Two days after each infusion, I felt terrible for about a week, then for another week it felt like I had a hangover.”
“I had no hair, no eyelashes, no eyebrows, and I just felt not myself.”
While her girls and Steve were the light of Corinne’s life during this period, she also relied on the practical and psychological support services made possible through funding from Mater Chicks in Pink.
“I met Ash at the very beginning of my journey, even before my doctor. She brought me and Steve into her room to talk about the results and assured me that I wasn’t going to be dying anytime soon—which was what was running through my head.”
“It was amazing to have her support. I was able to contact her outside of appointments, which was great because often I would have all these questions in between doctor visits.”
“I had conversations with her about what to expect from chemotherapy, and she gave me tips about lots of things like accessing wigs and mastectomy bras, even just how my fingernails could be affected during chemotherapy treatment.”
“I would have felt quite alone without her support.”
Mater Chicks in Pink was created so that no woman would have to go through breast cancer alone.
Ash reflects on Corinne’s journey to fight her breast cancer, “Hearing the words ‘you have cancer’ can be the worst news imaginable. Taking Corinne step by step through how she would fight the breast cancer helped her to feel in control, in a moment of time that feels so out of control.”
Corinne hopes that in sharing her story, she will encourage other young women to take the time to complete self-checks at home. Her message is this: put your health first if you feel something is not right.
“What’s crazy to me is that you don’t necessarily need to get regular checks until you’re much older than me.”
“Without the luck of me finding it myself, it could have been a very bad situation. Everybody needs to be aware of the importance of early detection.”
