“MY name is Sonya and I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in June 2021, at the age of 57. I have a husband Dave and two teenage children.”
This is how Perth mum and nursing agency owner Sonya Maloney begins her talk to medical students as part of the Survivors Teaching Students program run by the Australia New Zealand Gynaecology Oncology Group.
Even with the adversity of having to fight cancer, Sonya has been helping young doctors understand the importance of empathy as well as having good clinical skills. And now she’s lending whatever support she can to a new project. Having gone through the trauma of a cancer diagnosis, the strain of travelling for specialist appointments hours from home, the inability to work for periods of time and the mental anguish that is ever-present, Sonya is relieved to know that Rotary Tasmania has launched the Tasmania Gynaecological Cancer Project to support women in a similar position to her.
Rotary Tasmania Community Care co-chair John Dare said money raised will go towards funding vitally important clinical trials for women suffering from a gynaecological cancer.
“They are undertaken by the statewide Gynaecology Oncology Unit, a small unit based in Hobart that services the whole of the state. “Clinical trials give patients the opportunity to access medications that they may otherwise not be able to access and are not always fully funded,” he said. “Research shows that patients who participate in a clinical trial have improved chances of survival. Patients feel valued for participation in a clinical trial, and it offers them great hope – hope that they may benefit from the trial but often more importantly, hope that the disease will impact people less in the future.”
Rotary Tasmania Community Care co-chair Biddy Fisk said that more immediate, practical needs can also be met from the funds raised, such as out-of-pocket travel and accommodation costs.
“Our aims include raising awareness of gynaecological cancers, holding special events for patients to help them feel supported and raising funds to support the trials through events and merchandise sale,” she said.
“Breast cancer gets plenty of publicity these days but there’s so much to do in the gynaecological space. There are now eight breast care nurses for every one gynaecological nurse.”
For Sonya, her biggest unmet need throughout the process has been mental health support, not just for herself but her whole family. “At the time of my diagnosis I was in good health and feeling very lucky having survived and beat breast cancer diagnosed in 2019. I was playing tennis and enjoying life in general,” she said. “I had been out to lunch with a girlfriend, I got home and had pain in my right side under the ribs which continued for about a week, they were not unbearable but just annoying and persistent. I went to my local GP, I couldn’t see my regular doctor so saw another, and had an X-ray. The result was negative, the doctor said to come back if the pain got worse or continued.”
Following a series of GP visits, X-rays, ultrasound and still no sign of anything unusual, Sonya’s registered nurse husband urged her to see a GP again because she had experienced sudden weight loss and gain. A scan revealed what they didn’t want to see – stage three ovarian cancer – and a regime of chemotherapy quickly followed.
Illness delayed Sonya’s life-saving surgery several times, and finally in late October she had her ovaries removed and was lucky to wake up with her bowel and other body parts that are often affected and removed without warning. “My family and friends were very supportive, I couldn’t have done it without them, especially my husband who was my rock,” Sonya said.
“I am told that the cancer will come back – it’s just a matter of when. And while I don’t have the energy I used to have, for now I’m enjoying playing a bit of tennis at the Perth Tennis Club. “
There are many women out there in the same situation as me and some are much worse, so I encourage everyone to consider supporting the Tasmania Gynaecological Cancer Project.”