BRAVERY.

Ask nurses what they see when caring for people with cancer and it’s their patients’ courage that has made a lasting impression.

“They just seem to deal with it, get on with it, get on with their treatment, get on with what they need to do,” Kylie Coleman says.

Mrs Coleman is one of a group of Border nurses who came together to discuss their work ahead of tonight’s Pink Tie Ball at Albury Entertainment Centre.

A key fundraiser in the Turn The Border Pink campaign, the event is part of the Howlong Now?! team’s ongoing goal to raise enough money to participate in next year’s Weekend To End Women’s Cancer in Melbourne.

Earlier this year the team comprised five people who walked 60 kilometres over two days in aid of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

But in 2015 Howlong Now?! aims to have 16 participants, including the six Albury-Wodonga registered nurses who gathered this week.

With many decades of experience between them, they described a role both rewarding and challenging.

When asked how they cope, oncology nurse Sue Meredith has an answer that is almost hidden in plain sight.

“We don’t have cancer, I think that helps, you know,” she points out.

“Really when you look at it, people say, ‘Oh, how do you deal with it?’ and you realise. well, we don’t have cancer, we don’t have the issues that they have, we can go home to our families and be well.”

Separating work from the rest of life becomes important in such a job.

“You learn how to walk out of here,” Mrs Coleman says.

“Even though they’re always in the back of your mind, especially if you’re leaving someone who is struggling or terminal.

“You do learn to turn off and that only comes with time, being able to learn that.

“Because if you don’t do that, it’s very hard to come back.”

According to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which is home to Australia’s largest cancer research group, one in three women will develop a form of cancer before the age of 85.

Breast and gynaecological cancers may be the best known of women’s cancers, but the list includes all forms.

There are also many types of treatment and survival rates continue to improve.

As Adam Skalic, the only male present, says bluntly, “there’s not a pine box at the end of the tunnel”.

His colleagues are aghast — sorry ladies, he HAS been quoted — but Mr Skalic’s frankness acknowledges the layperson’s first thought when confronted with a cancer diagnosis.

“They hear the ‘c’ word and they hear nothing else,” Mrs Coleman says.

Mrs Meredith says a common early reaction is to be overwhelmed by the situation.

“Everything happens so quickly that they just don’t absorb it,” she says.

“They come in and it’s like shock.”

Over time, however, people slowly come to terms with their lot.

“I see them from day one right through to, you know, we’ve had people come for years,” she says.

“I think it’s just the accepting of it; they accept it and ... have hope for the future.”

Living with cancer is often described as a journey and more than one fund-raising venture also follows this theme.

The Weekend To End Women’s Cancer, which raised $3.6 million this year, is a mass walk while this month’s Border Relay For Life will see hundreds pounding a track for 24 hours to support the Cancer Council.

But physical exertion is a poor imitation of the realities faced by cancer patients.

Those who care for them see their experiences and try to lessen the burdens.

“You form relationships with both the patient and the family,” Simone Skalic says.

“It’s also very rewarding too, we’ve made a positive in their life.

“That’s why we’re nurses, I guess.”

Mrs Coleman has no doubt about what’s needed to help people through, particularly in the early stages of treatment.

“Education, education, education,” she says.

“You’re also providing a lot of emotional support at the same time, physical and emotional.”

“And for family and friends often too as well,” Mrs Meredith adds.

“Just being able to listen to them, providing education and where to go for help.”

Every patient’s story is different, but the nurses say one thing needs to stay constant.

“If you don’t have the right attitude, I think you’re halfway gone,” Mrs Skalic says.

Remaining upbeat, having good networks and living each day can be key factors as people face the task ahead.

“To try and beat it,” Mrs Coleman says.

People close to cancer patients can feel unsure what to do, but the health professionals highlight communication and practical help.

“Talk about it,” Mrs Meredith says.

“Cook them dinner, look after the kids ... do the housework.”

The thing not to do is avoid them.

“Not run away, not treat them as if they’re infectious,” Mrs Skalic says.

“Keep those lines open.”

Howlong Now?! was started by breast cancer survivor Kristy McMahon, a keen fund-raiser for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre since her diagnosis and treatment last year.

Mrs Coleman, who cared for Mrs McMahon during her recovery, says the determination of one who’d not long undergone a mastectomy and chemotherapy encouraged others to join in.

“She said, ‘You’ve got to walk with me’, and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to walk with you’, I didn’t have any response to that, what could you say?” she says.

“Kristy was three months out of treatment and walked the 60 kilometres, so if that’s not inspiring, what is?”

Tonight’s Pink Tie Ball will be a chance for the team to have fun together as well as promote awareness of their cause.

“To get it out there that we are doing it because it isn’t just this weekend, we’re going to need to keep fund-raising,” Mrs Coleman says.

Fund-raising is likely to continue at least as long as the search for a cure for cancer, with the nurses fully aware how one helps the other.

Mrs Meredith hopes one day there will be no need for oncology nurses.

“I’d like to be out of a job in five years,” she says.

“Cancer to us is normal,” Mrs Coleman adds.

“It would be nice if that wasn’t the case.”

ONE look at a prominent 

Wodonga landmark this weekend will indicate the prevailing hue.

The water tower will be lit up at night as part of the plan to Turn The Border Pink.

Raising money towards the Weekend To End Women’s Cancer, the colourful campaign has attracted a range of supporters.

The biggest event will be tonight’s Pink Tie Ball at the Albury Entertainment Centre, where musicians Nathan Lambourn and Simon McKenna will donate their time to perform for about 140 guests.

Based in Melbourne, but originally from Albury, Lambourn says a couple of local musicians will also assist as they belt out a mix of top 40 hits and classics.

“I can’t wait, it’s a great venue” he says.

“We’re 100 per cent behind it, cancer’s touched everyone’s life in some way.”

But do you have a pink tie?

“We have to all go out and buy one,” Lambourn admits.

Described as the pink icing on the fund-raising cake, the ball is not the only way people can support the cause.

Pink ribbon balloons will be sold at IGA while Tallangatta’s Pixon Automotive is donating 4 cents from every litre of fuel sold over the weekend.

Turn The Border Pink’s Facebook page lists many businesses ready to get in the pink through displays and donations.

Cafe Elmwood and Anytime Fitness Wodonga held promotions yesterday to support the campaign and its organiser Kristy McMahon, herself a breast cancer survivor.

“When I heard her story, I decided we needed to do something to help her,” Anytime Fitness Wodonga manager Shane Slater says.

To donate to Howlong Now?!, the Border team competing in next year’s Weekend To End Women’s Cancer visit endcancer.org.au.