Labour MP Lemauga Lydia Sosene talks about her recovery from cancer. Video / Mark Mitchell
Lemauga Lydia Sosene was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and returned to Parliament this year.
She emphasises the importance of regular breast screenings and being proactive about health.
Sosene plans to help with community advocacy and urges making health a priority.
The cancer story of Lemauga Lydia Sosene may sound familiar: the South Auckland MP was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, took several months' leave for treatment and returned to Parliament this year.
Sosene shares much with Greens co-leader Marama Davidson, whose exit and return to Parliament after breast cancerwas headline news.
But Sosene feels lucky that she was able to keep a low profile during the ordeal.
She had been a member of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu board for 12 years and was a list MP for about 18 months before being elected as the MP for Māngere in 2023.
As she tells it, it was a series of tests and specialist appointments and many, many, many questions.
Sosene said she may have been a difficult patient because she asked so many questions. And if she didn’t understand the answer, she would persist.
“I went from specialist to specialist to specialist,” she said.
“I asked a number of questions. If I didn’t understand all the medical terms, I requested they draw pictures.
“I unpicked everything. I read everything. Every appointment I had, I read through the notes in the morning just so I could understand and prepare myself for questions.”
She wanted to be fully informed before she gave consent and it helped in explaining it all to her family – she has two grown sons.
“For me, it was a whole new world, a whole new language. I did my own research, I went back to my own GP,” she said.
“And I have to say, we have amazing health professionals. Some of them are burnt out but they care so much about Kiwis.”
Lemauga Lydia Sosene says she never stopped asking questions. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Sosene eventually had surgery. She and her health professionals were preparing her for four rounds of chemotherapy to follow. But a private Oncotype test she took meant she could forgo the more “brutal” chemotherapy for a round of radiotherapy, which comprised five days of treatment under big machines.
She received her treatment at the Manukau Superclinic and her husband, Afoataga William Sosene, was her constant support person.
When she is fully recovered, she would like to go back to the clinic to help in whatever way she can with the community advocacy programme.
She also has key messages after her experience: do not miss your breast-screening appointment; if you feel unwell, don’t wait for the appointment to roll around, be proactive and get checked out; and if you get a positive result, take a support person with you to follow-up appointments.
She also urges people to make their health an absolute priority. She has a regime in place to help keep herself well including rest, exercise and good food.
She believes she is about 90% well and will be vigilant about seeking time off from the party whip if she feels the need to.
She is on the government administration select committee and this week made a speech in the debate on the Prime Minister’s statement.
So has the experience changed her outlook on life?
“Absolutely. You realise you’ve got numbered days and so you want to be in the best health, you want to go through your bucket list and put things in place...
“My bucket list would be to spend as much time with my family members and have good times. And don’t sweat the small stuff. Just let it go. Live life and just be happy and be content.”
Sosene explained that a few years ago, she got her Samoan tattoos, malu, on her thighs and hands at the same time as her husband, which was part of the tradition to help share the pain.
As well as Sosene and Davidson, former National cabinet minister Nikki Kaye took leave for treatment of breast cancer but died last year. Labour MP Jan Tinetti was treated for breast cancer in 2019 and subsequently became Education Minister.
Former Labour MP Helen Duncan left Parliament after being diagnosed with breast cancer and died in 2007.
