Cancer Council Australia figures indicate 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women in Australia will be diagnosed with some form of cancer before the age of 85.
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Claire McGuire
Claire is no stranger to cancer. For more than a decade she worked as an oncology nurse at the Mater Hospital, caring for people with a range of cancers, but in 2008 the young mother of three became a breast cancer patient herself.
“My job gave me a good knowledge of breast cancer but nothing could prepare me for this,” Claire explained.
“A week after my diagnosis, I had extensive surgery to remove part of my right breast and I then had aggressive chemotherapy treatment for six months” she said.
Today, Claire has been given the all clear. She is now finishing her midwifery training and is working part-time in the special care nursery at the new Mater Mothers’ Hospital.
Michael Nichols
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men affecting over 13,500 Australian men every year. Michael Nichols is just one of these men.
Michael was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003. In February 2004, Michael underwent a prostatectomy at the Mater.
While Michael is now doing extremely well, his family history of prostate cancer makes him think about his sons and grandson and the importance of research into the disease.
“Medical research is imperative for improving treatment options for prostate cancer, as well as many other diseases. The work being done at the Mater Medical Research Institute may just save the life of one of my boys down the track, not to mention thousands of men around the world” Michael said.