LINDA Millard’s personal battle against breast cancer was harrowing enough, yet it was the toll it took on her family that upset her the most.
Believing breast cancer didn’t run in her family, the 58-year-old ignored a lump in her breast for several months before diagnosis in 2010. “I regret putting it off when I knew something wasn’t right; I really don’t know why we do such silly things,” she says.
Mrs Millard, of Werribee, is one of eight Victorian women who have shared their story for a range of short films produced by BreastScreen Victoria. BreastScreen Victoria chief executive Vicki Pridmore says the organisation has also made a four-minute film looking at the mammogram process.
“These stories highlight the screening experiences of a woman with a disability, an Aboriginal woman, a regional woman and women who survived breast cancer.”
Mrs Millard had a mastectomy, which stopped the cancer from spreading through her body. She is now recovering well.
For more information or to book a mammogram, call 132050. The short films can be viewed at breastscreen.org.au.
