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“Can You Just Take a Quarter?” My Neuroendocrine Cancer Story
It began in 2015, on the night shift on the eve of Australia Day, at the adult inpatient mental health unit at Austin Health, where I was working as a nurse. I was waiting for the day staff to arrive when a wave of exhaustion hit me. I’d always loved night shifts, so I thought, oh gosh, I must be getting older. Then the day shift leader found me looking a bit worse for wear and cracked a joke about me nodding off… but I said I wasn’t feeling great, and someone took my blood pressure. It came back at 200 over 100. Well, the staff were suddenly hovering around me with great gusto, and next thing I knew I was in the emergency department. I thought it was all a bit alarmist. I was sure I’d be fine and just wanted to get home to bed. A week after I was discharged, a doctor rang to urge me to have a CT scan the hospital had organised. He played it down as them just being cautious, but that scan revealed a tumour in my left lung.
The doctor told me, kindly and matter-of-factly, that I’d need my whole left lung removed. Well, me being me, I started to barter. “Could you just take a quarter? Half? Three-quarters?” She smiled and gently held firm, and it was lovely that she was warm enough to see I was joking. A bit of humour got me through a very big moment. The pathology showed an atypical bronchial carcinoid, and in April the surgery went well. I was home on day 6, feeling like I’d been stomped on by someone in boots, but I bounced back quickly with the support of my family, friends and nurse colleagues from Austin Health. I believed I would heal, and it was so pleasing to think my surgery had been a huge success and I was now cancer free.
In 2018, after a gorgeous trip to Paros for a wedding, a scan found multiple tumours on my liver. The medical team were so sorry to tell me they hadn’t picked them up earlier, and suggested the artery to the liver may have hidden them. Learning it had spread and was now stage 4 was a bit disconcerting, I’ll admit, but I began PRRT, targeted radiotherapy, and the tumours settled down. They woke up again in 2022, and I had another round. My hair thinned so much that I turned 60 with very thin, lank hair… but my partner, a hairdresser, worked his magic and I felt glam for my birthday party. A year or so later the cancer stirred again, so I had more PRRT.
In August 2025, a PET scan at Peter Mac showed the tumours active once more, and I switched to oral chemotherapy. I had to cancel our trip to Macedonia, which was very disappointing. My partner went overseas on his own, and one friend stayed to look after me, which was a great help. After about 11 months on the chemo, my latest scan showed the tumours dormant again. I also have a monthly lanreotide injection, which I’ve had for about 2 years.
I’m now retired and looking forward to my total hip replacement. I’m confident of a good recovery because I’ve been doing prehab, strength and resistance training, to get myself ready. Once I’m recovered, I’m hoping to finally do some bushwalking, something I’ve dearly wanted to do since I retired. I think it will also keep me healthy and in the right space mentally to live many more years. In the meantime, I take things moment to moment with a positive outlook. I’ve always felt so well looked after at Peter Mac, only 30 minutes from home. The NET nurses are wonderful, and the support from the NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia has been instrumental. Currently things are stable and I remain grateful for my family and my many wonderful friends!
Neuroendocrine Cancer Day is on 10 November, and every bit of support counts.
Create an event, share your artwork, or donate on our ‘Double Your Impact’ days. There are so many ways to stand with the NET community.
