Sarah was just 34 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, just one day before her daughter’s fifth birthday. It was a moment she’ll never forget - unexpected, life-altering, and deeply frightening. With no family history and being young, fit, and healthy, cancer was the last thing she ever imagined facing.

In the blur of the first few weeks, Sarah found that most of the medical professionals she encountered were cold and detached. At a time when she was craving compassion, she was instead met with clinical indifference. That emotional disconnect made an already traumatic experience feel even more isolating.

Thankfully, Sarah’s breast care nurse referred her to Cancer Wellness Support. From the moment she made the call, she noticed a difference. The receptionist spoke gently and kindly, offering the warmth and humanity she had been missing. “It felt like a soft place to land,” Sarah recalls. “It felt like home.”

Before her surgery, Sarah was desperate to speak with someone, but other services she contacted were unavailable or too busy. When she asked Cancer Wellness Support if there was a counsellor she could talk to, they didn’t hesitate. Viv Maitland, the Client Services Manager, agreed to meet with her. That initial session, scheduled for 50 minutes, lasted three hours, as Viv sat with Sarah, allowing her to cry, talk, and process everything she was feeling. “I’ll never forget what she did for me,” Sarah says. “It really helped before the surgery.”

Since then, Sarah has engaged with many of the complementary therapies and services that Cancer Wellness Support offers, including art therapy and lymphatic massage to manage the lymphoedema she developed in her arm. She says she embraced everything on offer, finding each service to be a lifeline. “It’s been a godsend,” she shares.

Now 41 and six years cancer-free, Sarah remains grateful for the ongoing presence of Cancer Wellness Support in her life. “It’s amazing to know they’re still there if I ever need them again,” she says. “They treat you with the humanity you expect. If they can lighten the load of a new diagnosis, even a little by making you feel cared for and supported, that’s invaluable.”

Sarah encourages anyone in the region facing a cancer diagnosis to reach out to Cancer Wellness Support. “Don’t go through it alone,” she says. “They made all the difference in my journey.”