Lorna Subritzky's Talks About Her Battle With Breast Cancer In The Women's Weekly

Our very own Lorna Subritzky features in this weeks Women's Weekly magazine paying tribute to her late friend, Helena McAlpine after her own battle with breast cancer...

Sitting in the crowd at the funeral of Helena McAlpine last year, Coast FM radio host Lorna Subritzky made a silent promise to her late friend – and to herself.

Helena passed away aged just 37 after a long battle with breast cancer and in her final years, she badgered her former colleague-turned-close friend, Lorna, to commit to doing two things – buying health insurance and getting a mammogram.

“At the time that she insisted I get health insurance, I was a solo mum, cutting back on bills, but Helena said, ‘Your kids need you,’ so I got the insurance... but I didn’t get the mammogram,” admits Lorna.“So I sat there in September and I promised her that I would go and get that mammogram. I thought, ‘I’m over 45, so it’s free anyway, and it’s no big deal – it’s just a matter of making time.’”

It’s something Lorna’s sure many will identify with – she makes sure her kids go to their check-ups, but for herself, they often fall by the wayside.

But luckily for Lorna (48), she made good on her promise to Helena.

She was healthy and had felt nothing untoward during self-checks, but after her breast check, she received a follow-up call saying they’d found something on her mammogram. She booked in for a biopsy.

A week later, she was in the office of the breast surgeon with her husband Steve by her side, when the surgeon told them it was cancer – high grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Read the full article here.