Mother's cancer treatment inspires desire to raise funds for research

19 May 2017

At 52, Andrea Deane was like any other mum – a loving wife, a mother to two beautiful children and a friend to many within her close-knit Brunswick community in Western Australia’s South West.

However, last year Andrea started to feel a little worn out.

Thinking she was overworked, she pressed pause on her busy lifestyle, took a step back and worked on repairing her health, mind and body.

“I had been feeling very lethargic, as if my energy has been drained all the time,” Andrea said.

“I just couldn’t get over things; like if I had a cold, I just couldn’t get well.”

Seeking three separate opinions, and each time receiving a clear blood result, Andrea brushed it under the carpet and continued with her day-today life in the beautiful South West.

Several months later, Andrea walked in to Bunbury’s BreastScreen WA clinic at St John of God Bunbury Hospital for her two-yearly mammogram appointment.

After the routine scan she was called back to discuss the possibility of doing a biopsy, as the radiologist had revealed a 6mm ductal carcinoma in situ calcification that needed to be removed.

“I was in complete denial. I actually thought the nurse was talking about someone else. I just wanted her to stop talking and for me to go home,” Andrea said.

The next day, Andrea made a plan.

“I wanted to keep it incredibly private, only my immediate family and my two closest friends would know. I wanted to make sure I had the best possible surgeon, wherever they may be, I would search out that person, and I needed to eat well and make sure I took good supplements,” she said.

After a lot of research, Andrea decided that the best person for the job would be St John of God Subiaco Hospital Director of Breast Cancer Research Unit and Surgical Oncologist Professor Christobel Saunders.

“When I met Christobel she said the procedure was routine and we should be able to sort it out pretty quickly,” Andrea said.

“She said she would do a Hookwire procedure which required putting a wire into the breast, and then they would do a lumpectomy.”

Unfortunately, this is where things went pear-shaped.

Going in, Professor Saunders found two more lumps, one at 43mm and the other at 29mm, and upon further consultation it was also found that Andrea’s original 6mm lump had massed to an astonishing 62mm.

“During the procedure, I could tell I was in trouble. Three members of staff came in and were looking at the screen. I could see the intensity on their faces,” she said.

Professor Saunders immediately jumped into action, scheduling a full mastectomy, followed by a DIEP flap reconstruction to take fat from Andrea’s stomach to form a new breast.

Fast forward to today, and Andrea, now 53, has returned to her life in Brunswick, free of breast cancer thanks to Professor Saunders and the caring staff at St John of God Subiaco Hospital.

Determined to give back and make sure “no other woman in the South West has to go through this unnecessary disease”, Andrea is hoping to raise money for breast cancer, with assistance from St John of God Foundation.

“I am hungry for the best equipment for them. There is equipment out there that can diagnose it much better, and I am going to make sure we get it, especially in the South West,” she said.

St John of God Foundation Chief Executive Officer Nick Harvey said the Foundation provides funding to clinical research projects that aim to deliver better health outcomes to patients like Andrea.

Watch Andrea's full story.