Rotorua Weekender: Doctor's nagging saves Pamela's life

After putting off having a regular breast check for a decade, Pamela Jenkins says being nagged into doing so by her doctor's surgery staff has saved her life.

The 66-year-old owner of Rotorua Florist is speaking out about her diagnosis to encourage other women to have their regular free checks. May is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Pamela says life just got too busy and she kept putting the reminders from her doctor onto the back burner until her doctor retired and she changed surgeries.

Staff constantly rode her back to get the check done and her new doctor ordered a scan as well - which showed a "large growth" in her right breast, she says.

That was in October last year and since then, she has undergone a partial mastectomy and is four months into 18 months of chemotherapy at Rotorua Hospital's Oncology unit.

It had been 10 years since her last mammogram and she says she should have known better because it was about then her husband Don Lane died from a melanoma-related tumour.

"[Doctor's staff] got on my back and made me do it... I should have known better... I got the reminders but just kept putting it to the back of my mind. You think it won't happen to you."

Following diagnosis, she got on with the job of healing - gracefully accepting hair loss.

She admits to always having outrageous hair styles and colours and being a bit apprehensive about hair loss. It started falling out four days after her first chemotherapy treatment, while she had a purple streak in it.

It was her son Nicholas who reminded her she was the "adult" and to take the bull by the horns.

After spending a day patting down her shedding head, she soon had the hair shaved off.

"My hair was the one thing I was really unsure of.

"I have always been a hair person - slightly outrageous ... I'm not ashamed. I just haven't got around to getting a wig yet... people tell me I have a lovely shaped head anyway," she says with a giggle, her positive persona shining through during the interview with the Rotorua Weekender.

"I don't let things get me down so my first thoughts were 'let's get this sorted'. The prognosis is good. It was never going to be anything different."

Meanwhile, she hopes women will heed warnings and have their regular free mammogram.

"Women are not very good at looking after themselves.

"We tend to be better at taking care of everyone else... what has shocked me the most in travelling this journey is finding out the number of women that are suffering breast cancer and the wide range of ages.

"Get checked," she pleads.

"If you have any doubts at all, get checked.

"Take advantage of the free checks."

If you do happen to require treatment, Rotorua has a top-notch oncology department with dedicated staff on hand to help and support you, Pamela says.

"It's beautiful. A lovely place to be, light and airy and the staff are fantastic.

"Nothing is too much trouble for them."

June Grant, Rotorua breast and cervical cancer health promoter, says until more is known about how cancer is caused, women needed to be checked regularly.

"We do it because we are well."

She encourages women aged between 45 and 69 years to enroll for free tests through BreastScreening Aotearoa.

You can then be screened every two years.

To register call (freephone) 0800 270 270.