McGrath Foundation’s very own McGrath Breast Care Nurse takes on the challenge

Tracey Beattie is going Dry this July

Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be incredibly confronting and challenging, especially now with the added difficulty of accessing treatment during a pandemic. Many of my patients are facing additional stresses due to COVID-19 and I thought this was something I could to do to show my support.  

As a McGrath Breast Care Nurse, I see the impact the McGrath Foundation has every day and I know how important it is that every family experiencing breast cancer has access to this kind of support for free. At this time of year, I’d usually be attending fundraisers but due to social-distancing measures, it’s really hard for people to host face-to-face fundraising events. I figured that without these events, fundraising for the McGrath Foundation would be affected and I wanted to do something to help.  

I must admit that fundraising doesn’t come naturally to me! I’ve been easing into it by posting on my own social media pages and have reached out to my friends, family and colleagues via email. I do enjoy a wine so I’ve been joking with people at my own expense about how much of a challenge going alcohol-free will be. I also sent off a few text messages to people who said they’d like to donate.  

I had a laugh with a friend about how much of a challenge it would be and she bought me a golden ticket! I don’t plan on using it, but the additional funds are nice. Dry July is also a great opportunity to consider our alcohol intake and how this may impact our health.