My Breast Cancer Story
By Judi Ridout
In May 2006 I went to the Travel Agent and paid for a trip to see my 96 year old Mum in the UKÉthe same day I went for my mammogram with no thoughts of any problems. I had benign lumps removed (on 2 occasions) in my early 20Õs and had always had been conscious of having regular mammograms after the age of 40.
The phone call from the Breast Nurse was a bolt out of the blueÉinstead of going to see Mum I was on the track of surgery, chemotherapy (6 sessions), radiotherapy (30 sessions). I had always thought that my lifestyle choice of eating the right things (vegetarian for 15 years), non-smoker, hardly drink at all and a tramper would all hold me in good stead plus we have a lifestyle so exercise just happens!..but no! and the breast that had the problems was not the breast that had the original lumps removed.
The breast cancer diagnosis was a shock (to put it mildly) but when HER2+ was diagnosed too I can remember my Oncologist saying that Herceptin was my best option after the usual course of treatmentsÉand was I aware that Pharmac did not fund. I replied thatÕs $100,000 right?ÉAnne Hayden was launching her campaign about that time and the public were being made aware of PharmacÕs stance on Herceptin. My Oncologist gave me a quotation (Herceptin is based on weight) and I immediately said I can lose 5kgÉI didnÕt!!Étreatment cost me $75,000.
So, after the operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy I embarked on the years treatment of HerceptinÉthe most painful part of this treatment was paying! I was fortunate to have the resources for this treatmentÉbut I still canÕt come to terms with PharmacÕs decision to now only fund 3 treatments for the women of NZÉwhy are they ignoring all the other 32 countries in the world who are funding the years treatmentÉwhy are NZ women the guinea pigs with 3 treatments only?
My life turned upside down after the initial diagnosisÉthe treatment I have received from Palmerston North Hospital staff has been fantasticÉa caring bunch of professionals. My Surgeon , Oncologist and Breast Cancer Nurse were so supportive and helpful. From never going to the Doctors I felt like Palmerston North Hospital was a second home.
Life has now settled downÉI think anyone going through this looks at life from a different perspective. I am pleased that I joined with Chris Walsh and the other 6 ladies to take Pharmac to task over their decision. Fundraising brought us all togetherÉwe couldnÕt have done it without the support of the businesses and individuals that donated goods, time, resources etc etc. It was reassuring to know that the public did care. The number of times that people said Ò my sister/friend/mother etc etc had breast cancerÓ was amazing.
When taking Pharmac to court we raised around $95,000 for our court costs. Interestingly, Pharmac spent $772,000 defending the judicial review of its decision not to fund a year-long course of Herceptin.
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