Bernadette's message of hope

For 54-year-old Bernadette Farrar 2023 was filled with incredible challenge. In January, she faced follow-up radiotherapy for an aggressive skin cancer on her head that first appeared in 2017 which had returned.

As she fought her own battle, Bernadette supported her beloved mum through end-stage bowel cancer, saying a heartbreaking goodbye in September. Her grief was still raw when a routine mammogram in November revealed swollen lymph nodes under her arm, and a biopsy confirmed it was secondary cancer linked to her previous skin cancer.

A PET scan uncovered more devastating news—Bernadette also had bowel cancer.

“We just decided as a family that we were going to do this, we were going to beat it.”

A colonoscopy confirmed the cancer was contained, but it meant one final, life-altering decision—Bernadette would need to have her entire large bowel removed.

In April Bernadette underwent major surgery to completely remove her large bowel, creating an ileostomy. This irreversible surgery connects part of Bernadette’s small intestine to an external opening in the abdominal wall where waste is collected outside the body in a bag.

“The hard part was accepting that this was going to be the rest of my life.”

Today Bernadette is navigating the new challenges she has found with her ileostomy, struggling to sleep through the night and manage pain. Yet, she faces each day grateful to be able to share more special moments with her family. Thankfully, tests revealed stage 2 cancer that was fully contained in the bowel and caught very early.

Through every test, diagnosis, and treatment Bernadette has faced each step with courage, determined to keep fighting. Bernadette credits her husband Robert and daughter Cassidy as her ‘rocks,’ and is grateful to go through this with them.

Bernadette is grateful to have been given the gift of more time with her loved ones.

“I’ve had so much time in hospital. To just be home with my family is so nice.”

 

“I’ve been able to see my daughter create her first home with her partner, and will be able to watch them start their own family one day.”

Bernadette has a PET scan coming up in January, and feels confident the results will be positive.

“You never know when research is going to help you. Without it, I wouldn’t be here.”

Your donation this festive season will bring hope and healing to even more Australians living with bowel cancer like Bernadette.