Julie and Alphues have travelled life's road together since 1976. Despite a challenging decade of numerous cancer diagnoses, their story is one of resilience, love, and hope.
“I hope turning 70 should be less dramatic than 60!” Julie laughs, reflecting on her cancer experience that began nearly a decade ago with a routine mammogram. The scan unexpectedly revealed an anomaly and soon enough, Julie was diagnosed with HER+ breast cancer.
What followed was an intensive treatment program including the removal of the tumour, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted hormone therapy. Following her treatments, she finally received the good news that she was in remission.
Five years later though, Julie felt like something wasn't right. Despite her GP’s tests returning normal results, she trusted her instincts and sought a second opinion. Her intuition was tragically validated—she was once more diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer, quickly followed by thyroid cancer. Months later, during a Valentine’s Day lunch in Port Macquarie, Julie and Alphues received a devastating call from her GP. The cancer had progressed to stage 4 and spread to her liver. “It was very scary,” Julie recalls.
During the rise of COVID-19, the couple drove to Sydney for Julie's life-saving liver resection with Dr. Charbel Sandroussi at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. As Julie entered the building, she recalls Lifehouse being very bright, almost resembling a cathedral of hope. Alphues adds, "It’s an impressive building and a great institution.”
When speaking of Dr. Sandroussi, Julie is extremely grateful: “I love him. He was incredibly calming. All the staff were very supportive, professional, and full of technical knowledge."
"I particularly remember a male nurse for his terrific care and attentive listening. While in ICU, the music therapist and an encouraging physio helped me immensely. He let me know that I might fail, but I was not a failure. It is a pity I just missed out on meeting the therapy dog."
Despite the medical challenges she has faced, Julie remains steadfast and resilient. She credits her optimism to the unwavering love and support from her husband and the care of the staff at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
"I’ve nothing but happy memories. We just felt well looked after and since then, there has been no evidence of disease. I'm very lucky."
Cancer is something that touches all of us in one way or another. Julie and Alphues are big believers in the importance of medical research, comprehensive care, and a large dose of love and hope. Supporting Chris O’Brien Lifehouse as regular donors is their way of showing gratitude for the care they received and spreading more love and hope to other patients.
Patient-centred care and hope during the cancer treatment process can have a big impact on the outcome of our patients. Thanks to your generous support, we can continue to offer life-saving treatments and holistic care at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse that transform the lives and outcomes of patients like Julie.
