Laughter, gentle teasing and a few tears are all part of the occasion when Ellen Ford meets up with daughters Kristal, Cassie and Katie at her home in Newcastle, NSW.
All four have been diagnosed with cancer. But as they catch up over tea and biscuits one thing’s clear: they’re fighters.
Ovarian cancer survivor Ellen, 54, recently celebrated 20 years free of the disease. When she was sick her three young girls helped her stay strong – now it’s Ellen’s turn to be there for them.
Kristal, 33, Cassie, 31 and Katie, 30, were all diagnosed with cancer within six weeks of each other in 2014.
“Everyone knows someone who knows someone with cancer. But oncologists, nurses and doctors with over 20 years’ experience have never come across another family like ours,” says Ellen.
(L-R) Cassie, Katie, Ellen and Kristal are pillars of strength for one another.
Katie began having symptoms of bowel cancer in September 2013, a month after her first and only child Abbygail was born.
She wasn’t diagnosed until March 2014. The next week she had a bowel resection, followed by chemotherapy.
By October 2014, Katie had finished her chemo. But she only had two days to celebrate before she was told her cancer was back. Since then she’s had another major operation and eight more rounds of chemo.
Despite the treatment, Katie’s cancer has returned for the third time. Her best hope for survival now lies in a rare operation the family is praying she’s approved for by Medicare.
A couple of months after Katie began treatment, she organised a first birthday party for Abbygail. While Kristal was helping her set up for it, she told her sister some unnerving news.
“People expect cancer patients to be gloomy – but we’re not. We roll with the punches,” explains Cassie.
“I told Katie I’d found a lump. She gave me the ‘uh-oh’ look and demanded I get it checked. But I thought, what are the odds?”
Soon after, tests returned a diagnosis of a malignant mass in Kristal’s left breast, and she called Cassie to tell her the news.
When Cassie, who works as a neurophysiologist at Gosford Hospital in NSW, told a colleague that two of her sisters had cancer, he insisted that she start regularly self-examining her breasts.
“Oh, don’t worry about me!” Cassie told him with a smile. But that night she found a lump.
A doctor confirmed her worst fears: she had breast cancer.
The day Cassie found out was a week before Katie was scheduled for bowel cancer surgery and Kristal was having a mastectomy, so brave Cassie kept the news of her diagnosis to herself.
But since she shared her news, Cassie’s been overwhelmed with support from her sisters – just as she has been there for them.
Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon Day (October 23 in NSW, NT, Vic, SA and WA, October 26 in ACT and Qld) helps raise funds in support of the thousands of Australian women affected by breast and gynaecological cancers. To find out how you can support Pink Ribbon Day visit pinkribbon.com.au
“Cancer is crap, it’s a horrible thing – but these two girls, they inspire me. They’re my heroes,” says Cassie, who was given the all-clear a few months ago.
“They’re both an inspiration. Kristal had a double mastectomy and went back to work two weeks later! They have chemo and still manage to raise their daughters.”
“We have ‘Negative Nancy’ days, but we suck it up,” says Katie.
“We take each day as it comes,” adds Kristal. “You’re going to get curve balls and sometimes they will knock the absolute crap out of you. But you can’t simply fall down in a wallowing heap.”
“And if you do, don’t stay there, pick yourself up,” agrees Katie.
“Our husbands, Mum and the kids keep us positive too. If we didn’t have them it might be different, but when you see their little faces and they give you hugs and kisses and say, ‘I love you, Mum’, that can brighten up your day,” adds Kristal.
“Abby knows Mummy is sick, but that’s her normal,” says Katie. “If I’m having a bad day she’ll be extra gentle, and she gives me a ‘check-up’ with her doctor’s kit.”
“It’s so important to know your own body,” she adds. “When something isn’t right don’t hesitate to get answers – before it’s too late.”
While Katie and Kristal don’t know how long their battle will continue, they have each other. “We’re more like soulmates than sisters,” says Cassie, wrapping her arms around the girls.
“And we’re not giving up,” she adds with a brave smile.
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