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Speaker 1: Well. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign

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Speaker 1: to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer and

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Speaker 1: an opportunity for us to rise together to uplift women

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Speaker 1: in need. And joining me on the line is a

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Speaker 1: very special guest. She's a breast cancer survivor, an all

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Speaker 1: around wonderful woman, and I am very pleased to say

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Speaker 1: she's my daughter's teacher as well. Good morning to you, Anita.

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Speaker 2: What good morning, Katie?

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Speaker 1: How are you good morning? Really well, it's great to

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Speaker 1: have you on the show now, Anita. We know that

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Speaker 1: it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as I said, a

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Speaker 1: real opportunity to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer.

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Speaker 1: How important is a month like this?

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Speaker 2: Look, I can't understate the importance of it, especially now

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Speaker 2: having been now being a breast cancer survivor myself and

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Speaker 2: understanding what it's all about. Just making sure that women

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Speaker 2: go out there and have their breastchact and he's the

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Speaker 2: mammogram thing and everything else like that. But not just

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Speaker 2: from the age of fifty either, because it's becoming more

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Speaker 2: and more predominant in younger women tea. So it's just

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Speaker 2: getting women out there and getting them to really think

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Speaker 2: about it and acknowledge that they do need to have

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Speaker 2: that check.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell me a little bit more about your

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Speaker 1: story and how you found out that you had breast cancer, Katie.

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Speaker 2: Honestly, it was a total flup. There's no history of

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Speaker 2: cancer in my family. My doctor had asked me to

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Speaker 2: have a range of tests and I said to him, well,

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Speaker 2: while you're at it, you might as well throw in

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Speaker 2: a mammogram and and I couldn't get that done straight away,

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Speaker 2: so it was a few months later after my other tests,

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Speaker 2: went and had it done, went away for a week

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Speaker 2: up to Dundee with a friend, and then got a

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Speaker 2: phone call saying I needed to come back into town

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Speaker 2: and there began my journey. So that was October nineteenth,

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Speaker 2: twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 1: Wow, what was that like for you then, you know,

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Speaker 1: going for a regular to check up and then getting

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Speaker 1: that call back and being told that you had cancer.

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Speaker 2: Look, honestly, it was it was very scary. But I

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Speaker 2: have the most amazing support network that anyone could ever

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Speaker 2: hope for, and so I wasn't. I didn't go to

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Speaker 2: that appointment alone to be told that, which was just

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Speaker 2: as well, because it was so overwhelming that I just

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Speaker 2: literally zoned out, and to this day cannot recall the

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Speaker 2: doctor saying to me that I'd need to undergo chemotherapy

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Speaker 2: and radiation and everything else like that. And remember later

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Speaker 2: when we went out for lunch, saying, oh, well, at

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Speaker 2: least I don't have to have chemos and they both

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Speaker 2: looked at me and went, yeah, you do. And I'm

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Speaker 2: like nah, and they're like yeah.

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Speaker 1: And do you know what I reckon? That's something that

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Speaker 1: that so many people. You know, unless you've gone through

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Speaker 1: that journey, and I myself haven't, but I certainly have

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Speaker 1: had my dad and had very close friends go through it.

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Speaker 1: Unless you've gone through that, you don't realize that when

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Speaker 1: you go to those appointments. Very often a lot of

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Speaker 1: that information you actually don't sort of you don't hear

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Speaker 1: it because you are in shock.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, Yeah, I just I guess I just

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Speaker 2: totally zoned out. Wasn't intentional, but yes, I did. Thank

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Speaker 2: God that I had them there because they wrote notes,

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Speaker 2: took photos of the concuter screen, of my mammograms and

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Speaker 2: everything else like that, so that i'd have that as

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Speaker 2: a record.

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Speaker 1: Yep.

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Speaker 2: And I'm very grateful to them for that.

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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what you know from what you've

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Speaker 1: said there, it really goes to show how important that

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Speaker 1: support network is that's around you. And sometimes when you

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Speaker 1: go through a journey like you've been through, you actually

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Speaker 1: find that support in people that you may not realize

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Speaker 1: or that you may not have known before, but people

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Speaker 1: who are going on a similar journey, which is exactly

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Speaker 1: why you've set up a bit of a support network,

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Speaker 1: haven't you. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, I have a very dear friend who has since

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Speaker 2: passed from cancer, but he battled that cancer. He battled

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Speaker 2: that cancer journey for over eleven years and and he

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Speaker 2: was an inspiration to all lives. Many of your listeners

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Speaker 2: may know of him, Danny Thomas, and he inspired me,

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Speaker 2: totally inspired me, and he made me. He helped me

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Speaker 2: to understand that that we're not the diagnosis, that that

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Speaker 2: that doesn't define us, that we still need to go

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Speaker 2: on and live in an enjoy life. And and but

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Speaker 2: there's you know, like in all of that, with what

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Speaker 2: you were saying. With the group that I've set up,

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Speaker 2: we're in the Northern Territory. We have a lot of

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Speaker 2: unique situations up here that don't apply to the rest

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Speaker 2: of the country. So whilst there was, you know, Australian

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Speaker 2: Facebook groups for breast cancer supporters or support. There was

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Speaker 2: nothing for the NT and and so I made up

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Speaker 2: my goal that had the very big actually that the

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Speaker 2: silence needed to be kind of broken, I guess, and

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Speaker 2: to use my story to educate rather than to sit

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Speaker 2: there and go, oh, dear, I've got cancer.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, and you know, education and that knowledge is power,

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Speaker 1: particularly when you're going through a journey like cancer.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely, So.

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Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about this group, and if

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Speaker 1: there are women out there listening this morning, or if

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Speaker 1: there is somebody out there listening this morning who is

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Speaker 1: maybe being diagnosed with cancer and they're not too sure

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Speaker 1: where to look, and they do want to speak to

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Speaker 1: people who've been through a similar journey or who are

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Speaker 1: going through that journey. Where's the best place for them

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Speaker 1: to search for that group?

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Speaker 2: Yep, it's on faithbook and the group is called Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory And then in brackets Australia Breast Cancer Support Groups

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Speaker 2: for Women. It's a private group. You have to so on,

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Speaker 2: sorry you go. Yeah, I was just going to say,

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Speaker 2: you have to have had breast cancer, or have been

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Speaker 2: going through breast cancer treatment, or be supporting someone like

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Speaker 2: one of my friends, her grandmother has cancer and her

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Speaker 2: breast cancer and she doesn't speak English. So I added

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Speaker 2: my friend to that group so that she can be

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Speaker 2: apprised of what she needs to, you know, look out

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Speaker 2: for for her grandmother.

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Speaker 1: Oh. I think it's such an important thing to do,

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Speaker 1: and it is so important to be able to support

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Speaker 1: each other through a journey like the one that you've

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Speaker 1: been through, Anita, How is your cancer journey going at

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Speaker 1: the moment?

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Speaker 2: How are you? I am going great, gun, Thank you

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Speaker 2: for asking. Loving being back at work. I you know,

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Speaker 2: there's there's still some tough days every now and again,

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Speaker 2: but most of the time it's good. And there's and

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Speaker 2: you know, they're still ongoing appointments, but overall, you know,

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Speaker 2: it continues to get better and better each week. And

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Speaker 2: I'm going from you know, like every three months, I'm

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Speaker 2: being graduating to every six monthly appointment yeap, my specialist.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, it's improving definitely.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's been wonderful to talk to you this morning.

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Speaker 1: You are such a great woman. I feel so pleased

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Speaker 1: that my little girl has you as her teacher. I

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Speaker 1: think it's wonderful to have such an inspirational person leading

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Speaker 1: our young people. So I really appreciate your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: We'll make sure that we let people know that group

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Speaker 1: name as well. Anita, what thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: having a chat with us.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for the opportunity to raise awareness for breast cancer

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Speaker 2: in October Breast cancer Awareness Mark Katie.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, such an important thing to do. Thank you, Anita.

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Speaker 1: We'll talk to you again very.

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Speaker 2: Soon, no problem, thank you buying.

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Speaker 1: That is Anita? What there? Eight nine four one one

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Speaker 1: O four nine is the number if you'd like to

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Speaker 1: call through. And as we see it, it is Breast Cancer

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Speaker 1: Awareness month. I know that there is a lot of

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Speaker 1: information on the National Breast Cancer Foundation website. You'll be

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Speaker 1: able to search that one up will also be able

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Speaker 1: to obviously do that search. As we just heard from

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Speaker 1: Anita on Facebook.