Ashleen’s story

My breast care nurse told me about Counterpart last year when I was diagnosed.

During the first few months after diagnosis, in the midst of so many appointments, starting treatment so suddenly and meeting all the different specialists, it was reassuring speaking to someone who’d been in a similar position themselves, with their own cancer story. The peer support volunteers understood my fears, the stress of navigating a cancer diagnosis and they are brilliant at answering questions and empathising.

Being diagnosed in the middle of Melbourne’s second lockdown, made an already difficult time even more difficult. Without being able to see family or friends in person, having someone to chat to that understands the difficulties of diagnosis and treatment was so lovely. Having a kind, supportive ear to chat to without judgement made me feel less isolated. When you’re diagnosed you feel like you are the only person in the world it’s happening to and having the chance to chat to Peer Support Volunteers allows you to feel not-so alone and show you there is hope at the end of this very long treatment journey.

During my 6 months off work for chemotherapy, I also attended several Counterpart webinars and online workshops on a variety of cancer-related topics, which I’ve found to be interesting and informative.