Women's cancer stories
Women's cancer stories
You are not alone.
Everyone's experience of cancer is different, but the support, comfort and connection we gain from sharing stories and experiences is powerful.
Here you can read and watch stories of women who have connected with other women through Counterpart.
The You are not alone video series was created with the support of the Victorian Government.
Trish
Trish shares how cancer impacted her lift, how she accessed support and why she became a Peer Support Volunteer with Counterpart.
Robyn
Robyn writes about her experience of breast cancer and the challenges of treatment, including being able to talk about what she was experiencing and feeling.
Penny
Many years after her cancer diagnosis, Penny became a Counterpart Peer Support Volunteer, providing support and a kind, listening ear to other women affected by cancer. Here she reflects on how she felt being diagnosed with cancer as a young woman, and the importance of having a space where you can talk about anything you are feeling or thinking following a cancer diagnosis.
Ashleen (part 2)
Ashleen talks about returning to work after her metastatic cancer diagnosis, and how she looks after herself during her transition back to work. (View part 1)
Bridget
Bridget talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer and finding support through Counterpart and our free exercise program for women with cancer.
Nikki
When Nikki was diagosed with breast cancer, her eldest child was a similar age she was when her mother died after having melanoma. She talks about how she communicated with her children, and how she found support after her diagnosis.
Madeleine
Madeleine describes her experiences following her diagnosis with ovarian cancer, more than 20 years ago.
Ashleen
Ashleen describes her experience of her metastatic cancer diagnosis. She explains the reassurance of speaking to other women with advanced cancer, and the peace of mind she found in sorting out end-of-life planning early, so she can spend her time focusing on living. Some people may find discussion of end-of-life planning confronting. (Ashleen also shares her experience of returning to work in part 2).
Joanne
Joanne shares her experience of living with stage 4 colorectal cancer, how she was diagnosed and her experience of treatment.
Donna
Donna talks about adjusting to life after her endometrial cancer, and the importance of finding the support you need.
Khim
In our first video in the series, Khim shares her experience of being diagnosed with cancer when she was 27 years old.
Robyn
Robyn writes about how peer support helped her following her second breast cancer diagnosis.
Hear from some of our volunteers. Find out why they volunteer to support other women going through a cancer experience.
The videos on this page were created on the lands of the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and acknowledge their continued Custodianship of these lands and waters. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and that we are the beneficiaries of stolen land and dispossession, which began over 230 years ago and continues today.
Want to share your story?
If you live in Victoria, and are a woman, trans or non-binary person who has experienced cancer and would like to share your story with others, please email [email protected].
