In April 2022, Stacey was staying at our Crawford Lodge while her father underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer. During her stay, she coincidently noticed a lump in her breast. As an oncology nurse, she immediately recognised something wasn't right. Not wanting to worry her parents, she kept it to herself until she returned home to Albany and confided in her fiancée. After a trip back to Perth for a biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer.
"Even though I had a feeling, it was still a shock to actually hear the words. The hardest conversation I had to have was telling my parents," she recalls.
What should have been a year filled with wedding planning quickly turned into planning her treatment.
"I had surgery in April, we got married in June, and then I started chemo a week after our wedding."
After completing her treatment, Stacey and her husband relocated to Newman. It was there that she decided to try a Life Now Meditation online course. Having previously referred her own patients to Cancer Council WA's services, she was now experiencing the benefits herself.
"The Life Now program came at a really good time for me because I was in Newman, I was away from my friends and my family, and I'd only just got to that point where I had time to process everything," she shares.
She adds, "I hadn't done a lot of meditation before, but it was a really good way to learn to focus and channel what I was feeling. It helped me work through everything in a way that I hadn't had time to before."
Stacey encourages anyone who is going through a similar experience, to try the Life Now courses. She continues to use the techniques she learned in the course to manage stress at work.
"Even when you think you don't have time to focus on yourself, you do. The guidance from the instructors and the interaction with other participants made a real difference. If you're thinking about trying it, just give it a go. You might be surprised at how much it helps."
Our Life Now Program offers free of charge introductory Exercise, Meditation, Mindfulness, Mindful Art, Tai Chi and Yoga courses at locations across Western Australia and online.
Applications are essential. Some eligibility criteria applies.
