Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} I'm a cancer survivor.  You might think, "Well that's great", but actually it isn't - or rather it wasn't.  Because so many more people do survive cancer today, it is now being recognised that 'surviving survival' is almost as big a challenge as surviving the disease.  The life you had before cancer has gone forever so how do you go about getting on with your life, when you don't even know what that means? I finally got from my BC life to my AC life (before and after) by attending a support group that dealt with the emotional and psychological fall-out after diagnosis and treatment.  However, before I could get to my new life I had to wade through a swamp of grief, anger, fear, loss and a whole lot of other 'sucky' stuff before I eventually got through to the other side and back onto dry land. That truly awful time lasted about a year after my treatment had finished.  However, since then I've gone on to study and qualify as a counsellor; I ran weekly cancer support groups for 14 years and was spokesperson for the Cancer Foundation I worked for; I still have a private counselling practice; I’ve written and published a memoir about my cancer journey and beyond, plus a short fiction book; and I’ve been an authorised marriage celebrant for 10 years.  One of the things that got me through the darkest times was writing.  I'd always written as a teenager but stopped for various reasons and it was rediscovering my creativity that eventually got me motivated and restored my self-confidence.  I wrote a lot of poetry during my personal annus horribilius then enrolled in some creative writing courses and eventually a novel writing course.  The novel is still a work in progress but I’ll get there!    

Nominated for Pride of Australia Medal 2007 (community service category)
Who's Who of Australian Women 2008-2014
Who's Who in New South Wales 2008-2014