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Anita Watt speaks with Katie Woolf about the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  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.