Taupō Pink Ribbon Breakfast: Breast cancer survivor holds fundraisers

Sue Thompson (far left) describes her breast cancer journey at a Pink Ribbon coffee morning that she hosted.

Many people who hold Pink Ribbon Breakfasts for Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand have a personal link to the charity; perhaps a friend or relative who has fought the third most common type of cancer in New Zealand.

For Taupō's Susan Thomson, the cause is even closer to home. She has organised two events this month, the traditional time for the Breast Cancer Foundation’s fundraisers, after breast cancer treatment last year.

Thomson received the cancer diagnosis just after Anzac Day last year.

The news came as a shock, given that Thomson had continued making mammogram appointments even after her entitlement to publicly funded screening ended at age 69.

“The cancer must have developed so quickly.

“I’m 70-something, and because mammograms are no longer free after you turn 69, I save up and pay to have them every year.

“I had my last one in March the year before, which had been clear.”

Happily, after a lumpectomy and several days of radiation therapy at Rotorua and Waikato Hospitals, she is in the clear, although still receiving hormone therapy to reduce the risk of cancer returning.

While she was happy to put her diagnosis behind her, Thomson wasn’t in a hurry to forget about breast cancer.

Instead, she turned her attention to awareness, starting with her friends who might have missed their own health screenings or stopped having them once they turned 70.

“Throughout all of this time, I was on the trail of women like me who had missed having their mammograms.

“I went round all of my friends and I think I’ve encouraged 39 people to get mammograms.”

Her friends may have felt somewhat hounded by her one-woman mission, but it proved potentially lifesaving for one of them, when the screening detected cancer.

“Unfortunately, one very dear friend needed a medical mastectomy, which she had within a couple of weeks of having her mammogram.”

Now, Thomson is holding two fundraising events for the Breast Cancer Foundation to give something back to the organisation that helped her through a frightening time.

A pop-in coffee morningraised $918, almost doubling her initial $500 goal. She is also hosting an invitation-only lunch this month.

Volunteers across New Zealand host events for Pink Ribbon Breakfast this month.

Thomson hoped that everyone would consider hosting or attending an event this year.

Even more important, she said, was attending mammogram appointments.

“If you can go, you should go.”