Dr Olivia Bell was first diagnosed with breast cancer after it was picked up by an MRI when she was 37. At the age of 39, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy.
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This humbling experience led Dr Bell to become a part of So Brave, a project that began in 2016 when breast cancer survivor Rachelle Panitz and body paint artist Wendy Fantasia collaborated to create a calendar – and next year’s will feature our local GP.
Dr Bell spent eight hours being turned into a painted masterpiece before heading to the Promised Lands for a photo session.
“You feel very vulnerable and exposed but as the paint goes on it feels like a body suit,” she said.
“However, the vulnerability I felt was nothing like I felt when going in for a mastectomy, so it put it into perspective.”
Dr Bell will feature as one of the 12 young women from regional Australia in the 2018 calendar.
Money raised from the sales goes to supporting the McGrath Foundation and breast cancer research.
Dr Bell and her husband Derek, also a GP, had been job sharing in Brisbane six years ago. With three young kids to think about, they decided to look for a new home in the country.
“A road trip in our Kombi led us eventually to Bellingen and we moved here four and a half years ago,” Dr Bell said.
“We loved the sense of community here, the diversity of cultural backgrounds and the closeness to nature.
“We also wanted more diversity in our work, and have found the balance between GP work at Urunga and medical officer work at Bellingen Hospital very rewarding and stimulating.
“We still job share and thoroughly enjoy the teamwork in both locations.”
Dr Bell said she had a family history of breast cancer, “so as a GP I knew the importance of taking every opportunity to be screening for disease”.
“I was eligible for an annual breast MRI, mammogram and ultrasound scan from my early 30s, and my cancer was first found on MRI when I was 37,” she said.
“Prior to this I’d had a number of mammograms and ultrasounds which didn’t show any cancer.”
Crucially, subsequent mammograms and ultrasounds also didn’t show the cancer – it was only visible using MRI.
“This created some difficulties for the surgical team, and the first attempt at removing it was unsuccessful,” Dr Bell said.
“When I had another MRI a year later it was still there and had grown slightly, but it remained invisible on mammogram and ultrasound.
“Fortunately it was still relatively small and didn’t appear to have spread, so after MRI guided biopsy and careful discussion with my cancer specialist and surgeon I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction at age 39.”
The surgery was successful in removing the cancer, however there were a number of complications, including life-threatening bleeding.
“I ended up receiving nine units of transfused blood, got to try the super comfortable beds in ICU (she jokes), and required another five operations to complete the reconstruction of my breasts,” Dr Bell said.
“I am delighted to say that at this stage I am well-healed and cancer-free.”
Dr Bell said though this time was bleak, she was also aware of her children’s thoughts and reactions.
“This was their first experience of significant illness and I found it important to find my way through with a positive outlook and a sense of humour,” she said.
“The hospital staff helped me alot with that – I felt a need to be upfront with the people I worked with, since I knew we would need their understanding.
“That, along with fantastic family and community support, meant my kids hopefully learnt the value of facing health problems front on and accepting help when you need it.”
Being rural can obviously be quite a challenge when you are unwell and, despite Dr Bell’s inside understanding of the hospital system her mastectomy journey involved, like many others in the Valley, a lot of travel to and from Sydney.
However, she was delighted to find there were quite a few positives to being rural as well.
“We are phenomenally lucky in Bellingen to have Coffs close by, so all of my screening imaging could be done 20 minutes from home,” Dr Bell said.
“Similarly, we have the Bellingen Hospital - this is three minutes from home, and they were able to help with intravenous antibiotics, iron infusions, wound care, and small procedures.
“All of this made my life much easier whenever I was at home. I would never have had the level of local support, care and encouragement from a community I could call my own, without living in Bellingen.”
Though to may seem strange to many, Dr Bell said she feels blessed and lucky to have gone through her breast cancer journey.
“For many, getting cancer is something they think of as ‘unlucky’,” she said.
“But for me, modern imaging (MRI) offered me the chance to find my cancer early.
“Modern surgery offered me a chance to live cancer free. A dedicated plastic surgeon, modern medicine and the generosity of Australian blood donors saved my life.
“As a doctor I have a real understanding of the years of research by so many dedicated teams, and the millions of dollars that have gone into making all of this progress possible.
“Add that to the love of my family and the support of my community, and of course I feel incredibly blessed!”
Dr Bell said being involved with So Brave seemed a great way to give something back, “especially since I already had a love of face painting – I didn’t take much convincing”.
The eight hour body painting session by Wendy Fantasia was followed by three hours of photographs by “our lovely local Jay Black”.
The images were taken along the Never Never and on the river, thanks to Bellingen Canoes.
“I admit it was cold by the end of the day, but a fantastic experience which was well worth my putting myself out there for,” she said.
So Brave aims to raise funds and awareness for young women with breast cancer, and Dr Bell wants women to know how to check their own breasts each month, know their family history, and present to their GP for the right imaging.
“The fundraising is important to me as I want research to continue, to improve outcomes for young women,” Dr Bell said.
“I am hoping to create some opportunities locally to teach women breast self examination – I did an education session on this recently and the feedback was excellent because we all need a reminder sometimes.
“I will always be grateful for my early diagnosis and want other women in our valley to have the same chance, to survive and thrive.”
ABOUT SO BRAVE
The So Brave project began in 2016 with breast cancer survivor Rachelle Panitz and body paint artist Wendy Fantasia.
They worked with professional photographers, editors, graphic designers, marketing and printing professionals to create the first So Brave Breast Cancer Fundraiser Calendar, featuring 12 young women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer before they were 40 years old.
The full body paint and photoshoot sessions, which are a once-in-a-lifetime empowering experience for young breast cancer survivors, are also a vehicle to raise awareness that young women get breast cancer too.
In 2016, the So Brave project raised funds from the sale of their flagship product – calendars.
In 2017, the So Brave project was incorporated and has become its own charity. The project focuses on regional Australia and in liaison with the McGrath Foundation Breast Care Nurses.
In addition, this year, the So Brave project will also choose a research facility and raise money for it.