Anne’s Journey to Overcome Tragedy

Having lost both parents to cancer at a young age, loving mother and grandmother Anne Woite faced her own cancer battle when she was diagnosed with grade 3 fast- growing breast cancer at 62 years old.

“There were no tears, just absolute disbelief. Now we really knew that we had something to deal with,” Anne said.

The memories from Anne’s parents’ tragic passing came flooding back after she was diagnosed, fearing the same fate.

“My mother Duch lost her life at just 35 years old from secondary liver cancer. Five years later, my father fought bone marrow cancer and lost his life just seven years after losing mum, only five days before his 50th birthday,” Anne said.

“I was 14 and both my parents were gone, leaving behind five children. I wondered how I was going to get through my life.”

Giving up was never an option for Anne, who was determined to fight breast cancer with the support of her loving husband Peter, her three children Belinda, Sarah and Ryan, her grandchildren and her brothers and sisters.

Anne underwent two operations to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy for three months then radiotherapy for six weeks.

During her chemotherapy, Anne’s children gave her the idea to write a book about her life.

“My children are the inspiration for this book, who started probing me about my past, my family and why so many of them had succumbed to cancer. They often asked me why I hadn’t told them these stories; when I was going through chemo, I began putting my childhood memories into words.”

Today, Anne is a proud self-published author of her book, called Anne’s Secret Garden; a story about her family’s life, as well as Anne’s emotional journey through breast cancer and her triumphs and challenges throughout her life.

“The majority of the novel came to me when I was sitting in my secret garden, hence the name.”

Anne’s book is available for purchase, with part proceeds going to Australian Breast Cancer Research.

“I know how lucky I am to have had my cancer in 2014, rather than back when my parents had it in 1959 and 1966, because of the advanced treatments that are available to us these days thanks to research.”

You can purchase a copy of Anne’s book by emailing Anne on [email protected] or by visiting The Hospital Research Foundation head office, Level 1, 62 Woodville Road, Woodville.