Australian mothers urge action on silent killers: ‘I'll keep going until I can't.'

Perth Now

21-05-2025

Lung cancer, bowel cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancer.
They're among the deadliest diseases affecting Australian women — and too often, they're caught too late.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The fight to beat common cancers in Australian women.
I interviewed four amazing women.
All mothers are either still battling one of the cancers above or have succeeded in their fight against them.
And through their powerful chorus of courage and heartbreak, a few similarities are glaring.
These are stories of missed signs, misdiagnoses, and misperceptions.
But they are also stories of hope, strength, and survival.
They're not just to inspire, but to warn. It's a wake-up call for all Australians.
Carly Magnisalis is a 45-year-old single mother of four beautiful children.
The rock of her household, the weight of the world on her shoulders, and suffering through an illness that no woman should have to endure.
Stage four lung cancer. Hers is a story that is truly heartbreaking.
She was a marathon runner, a non-smoker, a picture of health — until she wasn't.
There were no symptoms traditionally linked to lung cancer. She had no cough. No shortness of breath.
Her joints and fingernails hurt. An odd combination that led to a shocking diagnosis.
'I feel OK for someone with stage four metastatic lung cancer,' she tells me.
'And I'll just keep going until I can't.' There were no obvious signs Carly Magnisalis was falling sick before being diagnosed with lung cancer. Credit: Carly Magnisalis Carly is a single mother and rock of her family. Credit: 7NEWS
Struck down in the prime of her life, an early educator, university student and sole supporter of her family, she doesn't know how long she has left, but is doing her best to keep positive.
'I'm 45 now and I'm thinking I'm getting close to 50, but that's a gift now,' she tells 7NEWS.
'The chances are I probably won't be around but I look at just my perspective, to grow old is a gift.'
Lung cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia but has the highest death rate.
An estimated 9000 Australians die every year from lung cancer, half of them are women.
Carly wants the view of lung cancer to change, so outcomes for people with it can improve.
'People who smoke don't deserve lung cancer. No one deserves to have cancer and I think removing that stigma away from this cancer will help research, will help to get better outcomes,' she said.
For 54-year-old Stephanie Bansemer-Brown, it was blood in the stool that sent her to the GP 10 years ago, but her symptoms were dismissed.
'It's just haemorrhoids. You've just had a child,' she was told.
'I trusted my GP because that's what you do.'
But her sister, a nurse, pushed for a colonoscopy. And her suspicions were confirmed. Stephanie was eventually diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer.
She recalled: 'Why am I going through bowel cancer when I'm so young? I thought, like many, the misconception that bowel cancer was an old man's disease.' Stephanie Bansemer-Brown's symptoms were initially dismissed as hemorrhoids. Credit: Stephanie Bansemer-Brown Stephanie's sister insisted she seek further treatment. Credit: 7NEWS
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer and women are increasing at a higher rate than men.
Shockingly, it's now the No.1 killer for 25 to 44-year-olds.
Scientists are not sure why it is rising among young people, but one thing is clear: more awareness, better education, and earlier detection are desperately needed.
She is joining many in calling for greater screening, to give younger Australians a fighting chance.
'If you catch it early, it's 99 per cent treatable. We [need to] listen to what those red flag signs and symptoms are. Don't dismiss them as being something else. They may well be something else, but it is worth investigating,' Stephanie said.
The mother says it was her son that inspired her to keep going, even when gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation left her vomiting, lethargic and confined to the couch.
'I wanted to be around to see him grow up. I celebrate every birthday now. It's an absolute privilege to be here because others are not,' she said. Olivia Curtis is battling ovarian cancer. Credit: Olivia Curtis
Olivia Curtis, 40, is a mum of three. She's battling ovarian cancer.
She's one of the nicest, most intelligent women I've ever met.
Olivia is spending most of her time balancing home life, debilitating chemotherapy and clinical trials and advocating for better treatment for ovarian cancer sufferers.
It's a disease often called 'the silent killer' because its symptoms are vague and its progression swift.
Olivia felt something was not right on her tummy and subsequent scans confirmed it was cancer, but the sheer size was shocking.
The tumour was 3kg, 'the size of a newborn baby'. Removal meant major reconstructive surgery.
'It took 10 hours and they all came in and did their little bit and removed the tumor from basically all of my organs,' she said.
'All of my reproductive organs were taken, my omentum, my spleen, they scraped my diaphragm.
'The surgeons came in afterwards while I still had the tube down my throat in intensive care and they said, 'we have got all visible cancer and there was a lot of it'.' After six months in the clear, Olivia's cancer returned. Credit: 7NEWS
But that was only the start of what would be a painful journey.
Just as Olivia was bouncing back and six months in the clear, the cancer returned.
Shockingly, treatment protocols for ovarian cancer have not changed in more than 40 years.
'Funding is limited. Research is lagging. Lives are being lost. It's a horrendous disease,' Olivia said.
'We almost are at the point where we're looking at having an early detection test. We're almost at the point where we're looking at having a vaccine.
'We are on the cusp and we need to throw everything at this, we need to throw the kitchen sink at this.
'A little bit more time, a little bit more research, a little bit more money, and we'll have this cracked.'
Each year more than 1700 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. One thousand die from it.
The chance of surviving at least five years is 49 per cent.
Like many mothers, Olivia put her family first. She cried, not for herself, but for her children.
'I've been really filled with hope and I still am. But there are moments where you just think, 'God, not so much why me, but why my family, why my kids?',' Olivia cried.
I cried too. Nadine Maroney's life was turned upside down when she discovered a lump in her breast. Credit: Nadine Maroney
But there is hope.
Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and the most common cancer in women.
More than 20,000 women are diagnosed with the disease every year, and it claims 3000 lives every 12 months.
But the chance of surviving at least five years is 92 per cent.
Nadine Maroney, a mum of two, was in the shower when she felt a lump under her left breast.
Her life was never the same.
'The surgeon who'd done the biopsy said to me, 'good luck with your treatment', and that's when it was reality for me,' she said.
'I had to stop and think, how am I going to manage this? I had two children, beautiful kids, 10 and 13 at the time.
'It's a case of mind over matter, there was nothing I could do to control what was happening to my body, it was just happening.' Nadine went through chemotherapy, radiation, a mastectomy and a full reconstruction. Credit: 7NEWS
She endured 22 rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation, a mastectomy and a full reconstruction. It's taken her years to recover.
But she has. And her story is a reminder of how far breast cancer treatment has come.
Thanks to awareness campaigns and routine screenings, survival rates have soared.
Nadine wants other women to know they are not alone.
'I'm not one who was OK with asking for help, so I had to really condition my mind to go, 'it's OK to ask for help in this situation',' she said.
'I drew on the support of some beautiful women around me who so happened to be the mothers of my children's closest friends.
'I have nothing but absolute gratitude and love for these women who were also looking after me.
'Out of the worst trauma that can happen came the most beautiful experiences.' (Top left) Nadine Maroney, (top right) Carly Magnisalis, (bottom left) Stephanie Bansemer-Brown and Olivia Curtis. Credit: 7NEWS
These stories are raw. They are painful. But they are also a rallying cry.
To women: listen to your body, don't dismiss unusual symptoms.
To policymakers and health authorities: these women are not statistics, they are mothers, they are career women, they have hopes and dreams and a beating heart.
It's not fair they are in pain. It's not fair they are fighting for their lives.
As Olivia put it, 'we need to do more and we must do better'.
It's time to stop treating these cancers like an afterthought. It's time to put your mum first.
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