“WE all get sad and most of us get depressed, but there is life after it and we can live good lives after it.”
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Athletics champion Raelene Boyle will share her firsthand knowledge during a forum at Albury Entertainment Centre on Tuesday that will focus on living well after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Breast Cancer Treatment, Care and Looking After Yourself, organised by Breast Cancer Network Australia, is designed especially for those affected in rural and regional areas.
It will include a separate session for people living with metastatic breast cancer.
Other scheduled speakers include oncologists Craig Underhill and Kerrie Clark and cancer social worker Carrie Lethborg.
Boyle, winner of three Olympic silver medals and seven Commonwealth gold medals, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996.
“As an athlete I was in charge of my destiny, I knew the facts and figures, I knew the whole world back to front of track and field,” she said.
“With this cancer journey, it was totally different, I had no idea what it was about, nobody would give me answers back then and I had no control of my destiny.”
Her health concerns didn’t end there, with successive setbacks related to her appendix, gall bladder, heart and also ovarian cancer.
Trying to think about tomorrow, not yesterday became her philosophy.
“Look after yourself by learning the lessons of yesterday, but look forward, don't look back,” she said.
“If you keep looking back you carry too much luggage with you.”
A Breast Cancer Network Australia board member, Boyle said she was inspired by those she met.
“When you’ve had that tap on the shoulder, I think you make the most of the rest of your life,” she said.
“Being involved with all the women and helping to direct where the network goes, I stay in touch with the fact I’m a very lucky person.”
- The free forum will be held from 9.30am to 2.40pm on Tuesday. To register, go to bcna.org.au/forums or ring 1800 500 258.