By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
WHEN breast cancer has haunted your family for three generations, raising money for the most common women’s cancer digs deep.
For Cranbourne East resident, Leslie Rowe, almost every one of her female relatives has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“My grandmother died of breast cancer and her mum too, and my mum is one of four girls and they have all had it and that’s as far back as we can trace,” Leslie said.
The 33-year-old mum of two boys said it was something that was always at the back of her mind.
“I’m the eldest of two sisters, and we’re all too young to have mammograms, but when I’m 40 I’ll go yearly,” she said, which is how her mother, Marie, caught the cancerous cells.
Encouraged to get checked every two years, Marie was having a mammogram annually because of her family history, and sure enough found cancer cells riddled through her breast.
“Because mum got a cold before her mastectomy, she had to wait eight weeks before the next operation and in that time the cells had grown to more than 3.5cm,” Leslie said.
With Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie raising the profile of preventative double mastectomys due to her own family history, Leslie said she wouldn’t do it.
“My sisters and I know to always be vigilant, but I don’t think any of us would have them taken off in caution,” she said.
With her own mum the most recent cancer patient in her family, Leslie said raising funds for the Cancer Council is even more important.
“This is my 11th year of fund-raising for the Cancer Council,” she said.
Known for her second hand children’s markets and ‘Girl’s Night In’ events, Leslie donates 100 per cent of the money made each year to cancer research and support programs.
“I saw just how effective the ‘Look Good, Feel Better’ beauty workshops were first hand for my mum,” Leslie said.
“I saw a room full of really flat women and when they left they all walked out completely different, with wigs and make-up on.”
To help Leslie with her cancer cause visit www.cancervic.org.au
