Jean Tavares is living proof that early detection is the best way to beat ‘‘the big C’’.
The Keilor Downs medical secretary says she’ll always be wary of cancer returning a fifth time. She was first diagnosed through a simple mammogram in 1997. But cancer struck again in 2000, 2009 and 2011.
“It’s pretty scary when you go for your mammogram every year; you just don’t know what will happen,” Tavares, 64, says.
“In 2011, I went for a routine mammogram and another tiny lump was discovered in my reconstructed right breast.”
Tavares has since made a full recovery.
She is urging north-west women to get tested, with figures revealing falling rates of screening in Brimbank, especially at the Sunshine BreastScreen clinic where many appointment slots have gone unfilled in recent months.
It’s a similar story with pap tests, with just 54.6 per cent of Brimbank women checked for cervical cancer in 2011-12.
“I think many women are avoiding having a mammogram because they are afraid of the results,” Tavares says.
“They don’t want to know, don’t want to experience the pain of having one.’’
She believes the hectic schedules of modern women could also be a factor.
“Life is such a mad race today that many women don’t have time to look after themselves. They’re too busy looking after their families.
‘‘Every woman should take time to care for her health. An early diagnosis means that the survival rate is improved – as has happened in my case.”
Tavares, whose mother also survived breast cancer after being diagnosed in 1991, now runs a local support group.
The group, which meets on the first Thursday of every month at the Delahey Community Centre, has about 20 members. A barbecue fund-raiser will be held at Bunnings Watergardens on Sunday, May 25.
» Jean Tavares: 0425 790 663
