A Mother’s Diagnosis Saves Her Daughter

Christine’s motivation to get a breast screen came after her loving mother Maria was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.

This decision saved her life, as little did she know she was about to get the same news her mother had received only a month earlier.

“I always thought it would never happen to me, until I found myself being diagnosed with DCIS breast cancer,” Christine said.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered the earliest form of breast cancer, meaning it hasn’t spread out of the milk duct and has a low risk of becoming invasive.

Thankfully for Christine, this early diagnosis meant she did not require chemotherapy.

“My cancer was stage 0, meaning it was found before it even had the chance to grow. My doctor said there was a lot of hidden cancer and it was fast growing so it would have spread rapidly if it wasn’t for early intervention,” Christine said.

“I decided to undergo a double mastectomy and given my family history, including my grandmother also being diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn’t want any chance of it returning.

“Now I’m very aware of the risks and how lucky I am. My doctor said to me usually when women find the lump it’s too late, so now I urge all women to get checked because you never know and one day it could be you.”

Giving Back with Breast Friends and Bubbly!

Christine and her sister-in-law Josie own an Adelaide fashion shop called Boutique Mon Ami, and they decided last October to host a fundraiser for Australian Breast Cancer Research (ABCR)!

The ladies raised an incredible $5,747 for ABCR!

“Every year we always used to say that we were going to host a fundraiser for breast cancer in October and last year we had even more reason to raise funds to fight this disease,” Josie said.

The ladies organised a Breast Friends and Bubbly evening at their shop, hosted by Adelady’s Lauren De Cesare, whose mother also battled breast cancer.

150 women attended the sold-out event and generously gave back to support research into better treatments for breast cancer.

Christine and Josie organised a fashion parade, a ‘Peek a Boob’ Prize Wall where people paid $25 for a gift bag filled with goodies, and collected many donations from generous suppliers including jewellery, wine and gift vouchers.

Guests were also treated to special guest speakers including Christine’s doctor and breast cancer surgeon Dr Beverley Fosh and breast cancer researcher Professor Claudine Bonder.

“The response and support for our Breast Friends and Bubbly Fundraiser was amazing,” Christine and Josie said.

“We had such a fun night, celebrating, laughing and meeting new people. It was incredibly humbling to know that people were keen to hear my story and so caring and giving towards our fundraiser.

“The more you open up and talk to people about it the more you realise it’s more common than we think. The fundraiser was a great way of raising awareness for women to self-check and to also go for regular mammograms.”

Thank you to Josie and Christine who raised an incredible amount for our researchers.