The Power of a Positive Perspective
By Elly Collie
Professionals were telling Pam she didn’t need to worry about more tests, luckily, she’s not one to take risks.
A great-grandmother, mother to two daughters and grandmother to five, Pam is well established in Canberra after an early period in her life which saw her moving from place to place. Retired now for many years, she maintains an active life that would be the envy of many. A great cook, hosting weekly dinners for her family; a wonderful gardener and an accomplished artist, Pam maintains a hectic pace for someone in her 70s. To say she lives life to the fullest would be an understatement.
In 2007 Pam needed to rebook her annual mammogram appointment. When she did, she was advised by the specialist that at her age mammograms were no longer necessary.
But, as Pam puts it, “she is not a gambler with her health” and she insisted that her examination be rescheduled.
And lucky she did. Shortly afterwards she received a call from the Breast Clinic asking her to return due to a lump they identified on her mammogram. Notably, it was a lump that could only be detected by a mammogram scan. Actions were quickly initiated, and she had surgery to remove the lump, followed by chemotherapy and radio therapy.
That same year, breast cancer was the highest diagnosed cancer in Australian females with 2,680 deaths out of 12,567 cases.(https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/breast-cancer-in-australia-an-overview/contents/summary)
Unfortunately, Pam’s treatment was not without complications. During this period, she had two visits to the emergency room including one for a pulmonary embolism, which studies show is an elevated risk in patients with chronic diseases, especially malignancies. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3687454/)
Throughout her treatment and recovery Pam always maintained remarkably positive outlook.
“I told the ladies if they ever found a lump on my breast it would be a bonus because I’m so flat chested anyway,” joked Pam. When approaching her ordeal, she stressed the need to remain positive and she said it was simply what she needed to do; positivity and maintaining perspective were vital to surviving the process. The perspective she obtained was highlighted through one of her doctors who had lost his own wife to breast cancer but still continued to treat women with the disease on a daily basis.
Pam lamented that she could not continue with her love of painting when she was undergoing treatment and recovery due to associated weakness and what she describes as “chemo brain”. But as her health improved, she dove back into her art.
“It was amazing to feel like myself again,” she reflected. “You really learn not to sweat the small stuff; you don’t complain about a sore thumb, you just get on with it.”
She encourages her family to do the same, telling them to let go of the stuff that doesn’t matter and to forgive.
Pam quotes Buddha’s advice that “holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die, there’s no point to that”.
Pam continues to have yearly mammograms and makes sure to be there for friends and family when they are going through health problems.
“The most important thing is to let them know you’re there for them.”
EllyottGrace Journalism 