This was published 7 years ago
When a friend becomes a patient: McGrath Foundation Pink Test raises funds for breast care nurse
By Kate Aubusson
For 39-year-old Jacinta Jamieson, Maree Wylie is a carer, therapist, social worker and friend in one comforting package.
The two women have lived in the same rural area of Queensland all their lives. Their grandparents were good friends, they went to the same church.
Their shared history made Mrs Wylie's job all the more plaintive when Mrs Jamieson was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma; a subtype of breast cancer that forms in the milk ducts.
"It was Jacinta's GP who referred her to me. When I made that first call to her it was heartbreaking, but it was also easy in a way because I knew her, I knew her background. We already had a bond," Mrs Wylie said.
Jacinta Jamieson and her McGrath breast care nurse Maree Wylie travelled to Sydney for the Pink Test.Credit: Michele Mossop
The veteran nurse knew that before Mrs Jamieson was diagnosed she struggled to have children, and delighted in her happiness when she gave birth to a son and a daughter (now aged nine and six) with IVF.
Mrs Wylie knew the joy Mrs Jamieson felt when – after months of chemotherapy, radiation and a mastectomy – Mrs Jamieson conceived her third child.
She also knew the risks. Despite doctor's advice, and unknown risks to mother and baby, Mrs Jamieson decided to continue with the pregnancy.
"It was a big surprise. I couldn't believe I'd fallen pregnant naturally," Mrs Jamieson said.
Jacinta Jamieson with her husband and two oldest children.
Four months after her son William was born, she found a lump in her right underarm. It was secondary breast cancer.
"I think I was more upset the second time. I couldn't believe it. I thought I was going to be OK. I thought I was done with treatment," Mrs Jamieson said.
Jacinta Jamieson with William, who was conceived after her chemotherapy and radiation treatment as well as a mastectomy.
"It was frightening. You always think it will happen to someone else. Maree has helped me so much. She has helped me in more ways than she knows. She has taken away a lot of the fear, she gives me so much reassurance, and she answers my questions.
"Doctors give you so much information you can't absorb it all. Maree gives me a calmness, nurturing.
Mrs Wylie supported Mrs Jamieson during the "traumatic" experience of having to stop breastfeeding and source formula for her baby. She organised home care for the mother-of-three, and arranged for an au pair to help take care of the children.
"I couldn't have done chemo without [the nanny]," Mrs Jamieson said.
This close connection with a patient is something Mrs Wylie is used to. As a McGrath Foundation specialist breast care nurse in a regional community, she has some level of personal attachment with many of the women she cares for.
"I think it's something unique to rural nursing. There are very few strangers," said Mrs Wylie, who recently became the Queensland state clinical manager for the McGrath breast cancer nursing service.
"At times it makes it difficult. You couldn't be a McGrath nurse if you didn't have a big heart. But you need to take care of yourself and I'm very passionate about making sure our nurses are well cared for."
Mrs Wylie and Mrs Jamieson travelled to Sydney for the McGrath Foundation's Pink Test, which aims to raise $390,000 to fund just one additional breast care nurse for three years.
Ahead of the first toss at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday, supporters had pledged almost $8000 towards the target.
The intimacy between nurse and patient is in stark contrast to the sprawling geographical ground Mrs Wylie and her fellow nurses traverse to care for their patients. Mrs Wylie covers an area of rural Queensland the size of Sweden, some 450,000 square kilometres.
"The tyranny of distance is always a problem, but with [telehealth] technology we're getting over the hurdles much better," Mrs Wylie said.
There are 110 McGrath breast care nurses nationally, with the foundation recently announcing an additional seven.
McGrath breast care nurses have a postgraduate qualification in breast care nursing or cancer nursing.
More than 209,000 people are expected to be living with breast cancer in 2017 (up from 159,239 in 2008) as the five-year survival rates have improved to 90 per cent.
McGrath Foundation CEO Petra Buchanan said: "A growing need for specialist breast care nurses underpins our continued commitment to provide the free service of McGrath breast care nurses in communities right across Australia, as well as increasing breast health understanding and awareness.
"We are working closely with the local area health services in each state to place these new nurse positions in areas of greatest need. On average each McGrath breast care nurse supports 100 patients and their families at any given time," Ms Buchanan said.
Mrs Wylie's support is something Mrs Jamieson says she will lean on as she continues treatment and tries to focus on the future.
"I don't know how patients still do without them [breast care nurses]," Mrs Jamieson said.