October 24, 2024 • 13 mins
Kerry Patford is the Chief nurse of the McGrath's Foundation, and she leads an army of 300+ breast care nurses, including those in the Shoalhaven. Kerry believes women diagnosed in regional areas should be putting themselves first to improve their outcomes.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My heart shall have it.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
As you go through the stages of life, your breast
change changes, yeah, changes and sometimes go south a little bit.
So it's about knowing what's normal for you.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello, I'm Ali Drouer and in this episode we're talking boobies, titties, tatars,
mama jugs. Yep, that's certainly got your attention, but most
importantly we're talking about breast cancer awareness. I'm a survivor,
not once, but twice, and like many women living in
regional areas, it was having access to the right care
(00:40):
and the right advice at the very beginning of the
journey that was a key circuit breaker to the actual
shock of a cancer diagnosis. And like many women, I've
found myself sitting alongside or on the phone with the
local McGrath Foundation breast care nurse. There's two hundred and
thirty three of them in communities across Australia. By twenty
(01:02):
twenty five, they hope to have two hundred and fifty.
And leading them as they bring support and care to
many families is Kerrie Patford, the McGrath Foundation's chief nurse.
She's one of McGrath's OG's originals, with thirty five years
of clinical experience. And in this episode, we corner Kerry
(01:24):
as she sits in her car on the side of
yet another highway on yet another road trip, having sat
down with another woman who's just heard those awful words,
you have cancer. I started our conversation by pointing out
to Kerry Patford her role must take an awful lot
of boxes for job satisfaction.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I guess for me, it's about the connection to people.
It's a pretty amazing feeling when you have someone that
comes into your workspace and they feel like their life
is in complete crisis.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
They have been, you know, I had a big not.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
To their mortality with hearing the word cancer.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
And I don't think.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Anything in their life can prepare you for hearing the
words that you have cancer and the chaos that those
words bring to your life. And I guess for me,
it's about bringing the person in, looking after them, giving
them the information that they need, sort of painting a
picture of what's in front of them, and giving them
(02:32):
the information and the confidence and the support to know
that they can what's in front of them, they can do,
and they can get through it, and that they don't
have to.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
Do it alone.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I guess for women who live in regional areas, you know,
have you found that they're less inclined to reach out
and get some help. You know, like that that there
are lots more stoic than potentially other other women that
might be in metro areas with more of a suite
of services available to them.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Yeah, it's a combination of things. So often people that
are living in rural and regional areas only have access
to screening that comes around every couple of years, and
so they may not be as quick to seek a
diagnosis if they do notice a change. They might think,
I'll wait till the breast screen then comes around, and
(03:22):
you know that's too late. If you notice a change,
you need to get that scene too immediately. But the
other thing is that you know, often within rural relationships
that the wife's the best worker, and she's the second
part of the you know, she's the staff member that
the farm can't do without and can't cope without. And
(03:42):
so I think too, it's very hard for women that
work and live on the land that they need to
put themselves first, because that's not something that is in
their very nature that they have to step back let
everything else sort of be cared for by other people
or not be cared for at all, put their blinkers
(04:03):
on and.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Look after themselves for a while.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
And that is very difficult, particularly for women that have
always had that nurturing role.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, because one of the things you know that you
often hear about is managing other people's reactions to your
diagnosis can be equally challenging as well.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
And I am very aware of that.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And there's I always say that you know, when you
have a cancer diagnosis, you're going to find people that
lean in. So that's people that visit and sit with
you and quite productive in their company. And then you
have those that lean out. And a lot of the
people that lean out just don't know how to process
(04:48):
or to cope with a hearing of someone's diagnosis because
of their own personal experiences. So surround yourself with the
people that lean in. And the other thing I would
always say, people who's protect yourself and protect your information,
particularly in the early days when you don't always have
all of the information. You know, it's a lot of
(05:09):
waiting and waiting for results and for further investigations and
for dates of treatments until you actually have a plan
in place. It's very difficult to face people and answer
questions that you don't know your own answers to. So
just protecting yourself and you know, surrounding yourself with people
that make you feel good.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
What are the attributes that you look for in McGrath's
breast care cancerness.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Kindness, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to look
at the person and not just the biological pathology of
a cancer diagnosis. Yeah. So, and we've got quite strict
(05:55):
guidelines and what it takes to be in mcgar breast
cannis and so that includes being registered nurse, you know,
having an experience in the oncology or surgical space, and
that's coupled with tertiary qualifications all the way from you know,
a graduate certificate in cancer care all the way out
to Masters in Cancer Nursing.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Goodness, me, are those people hard to find?
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Carrie. We are really lucky that we have a really
I guess some sort after role.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
There is always someone that's looking to be a McGrath
breast Care nurse and we have a great education support.
So every aspect of our care reflects what's happening within
the medical and radiation and surgical space.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
A woman gets a diagnosis, when should she reach out
to the McGrath Foundation.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
As soon as she knows that she all day does
men get breast cancer too? As soon as they know
that they have a breast cancer diagnosis and who can
self refer? So just a quick phone call and we
know that the best outcome for people is when they
have access to a breast care nurse within seven days
of their diagnosis, which matches the.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Cancer Australia guidelines.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
And it's something that we aspire to as well. It's
just about creating an informed pathway and people having an
understanding and an expectation of what's going to happen next.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
More soon of our conversation with the McGrath Foundations Chief
nurse Kerry Patford as she encourages women and men to look, feel,
learn during this breast cancer Awareness month of October.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Back soon, I heartshoal Haven, I Heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Ali dreuer with you and back now to more of
our chat with Kerrie Patford, chief nurse with the McGrath Foundation.
Kerrie spends hours and kilometers traveling to ensure her army
of breast care nes nurses all two hundred and thirty
three of them are well supported in being able to
support those women and men facing not just the initial diagnosis,
(08:10):
but their surgeries, the side effects of the chemo or
radiation therapies, and also the emotional aspects of getting sick
to often be well again. So, in a practical sense,
how does carry approach a patient that's just received a
massive boult in their lives.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
What I first meet a patient, the first thing I
say is what's your story? And often breast cancer is
just a small part of their story. You know, they
could be a farmer, they could be a care for
elderly parents or disabled children, or you know, siblings or
foster parents and far you know, busy in different things
(08:49):
that a person has going on in their life, and
cancer is just one part of it. So I'm really
interested in knowing about the person, what a cancer diagnosis
means for that person, and what that means for their
family as well, because you'll find that family and home
duties come first, and if they feel like they can't
do both, that sometimes self sacrifice their own treatments to
(09:14):
be closer to home. And we don't want that. We
know that the best possible outcomes come with people that
are being able to have the treatment that's recommended for them.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
And also to try to sustain some normality.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, to not lose themselves is important.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
Do you see that emotional fortitude come through at these times?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
And I've had people say to me that you know
that they're never the same. That doesn't mean that they're
better or worse it, they're just different. That life's a
bit different. And I think that my life's a bit
different because of what I do too.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
I certainly have a greater.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Gratitude for life and my good fortune, and that I
get to work with people that inspire me. And that's
not the you know, the wonderful clinicians. I work with
the patients that let me into their lives and share
their lives with me. You really get to know people
when they are incredibly vulnerable.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
And scared, and for me, that's not wasted.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know, that privilege is not wasted on me. I
find that incredibly remarkable and humbling that I get to
be a little bit of a part of that.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
How important is it do you feel to ensure that
women receive equitable care in their treatment? This is something
that often isn't touched on. You know that we all
come from different walks of life, different economic situations. That
sort of thing is that something that's that's easy to
manage in your role.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It's not easy to manage and it's not a quick fix.
We know that people that live in rural and remote
areas have worse outcomes following a cancer diagnosis. And that's
a lot to do with, you know, access to screening
and access to specialist services, and the tyranny of distance
(11:13):
and being able to complete treatments and all of those
sorts of things, and also being diagnosed later with a
greater disease burden. But for women, we encourage you to look, feel,
and learn. So that is looking at your breast, you know,
when you're getting dressed in the morning, having a look
at your breast, see what's normal for you, take notice
(11:33):
in any dimpling, skin reddening or thickening, any rash or
unusual discharge, and you know feel so have a feel
for any lumps. And you know as you as you
go through the stages of life, your breasts change changes, yeah,
changes and sometimes go south a little bit. So it's
(11:58):
about knowing what's normal for you. You and making sure
that you know if you notice anything quickly quickly, that
you get a definitive diagnosis of what's going on.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
So look, feel and learn.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
It's looking and feeling and learning what's normal for you.
Speaker 6 (12:12):
Yeah, well that's exactly what happened to me. I was
blow drying my hair and I just noticed something when
I was blow drying it, you know, standing there in
front of the mirror. So's it's definitely early. The earlier
that you can recognize something ain't right, you've got to
get in there and you've got to get that checked
out for sure.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You really do need you need an answer as to
what it is. And you know, nine times out of
ten it's nothing, and isn't that great? So it's isn't
it great? That's nothing. It's not time wasted to find
out that it's not going to be a cancer. But
you need to know.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
So the next time you are naked in front of
that bathroom mirror, have a good look, feel if there's
anything different, learn what is normal for you. If it
doesn't feel or look normal, get to your GP and
get it checked out. Fifty eight people are being diagnosed
with breast cancer every day this year. Find it early
(13:07):
and you'll have a much better outcome. That's all for now.
I'm Ali Drauer. I'll catch you next time.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
I heartshall haven
My heart shall have it.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
As you go through the stages of life, your breast
change changes, yeah, changes and sometimes go south a little bit.
So it's about knowing what's normal for you.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Hello, I'm Ali Drouer and in this episode we're talking boobies, titties, tatars,
mama jugs. Yep, that's certainly got your attention, but most
importantly we're talking about breast cancer awareness. I'm a survivor,
not once, but twice, and like many women living in
regional areas, it was having access to the right care
(00:40):
and the right advice at the very beginning of the
journey that was a key circuit breaker to the actual
shock of a cancer diagnosis. And like many women, I've
found myself sitting alongside or on the phone with the
local McGrath Foundation breast care nurse. There's two hundred and
thirty three of them in communities across Australia. By twenty
(01:02):
twenty five, they hope to have two hundred and fifty.
And leading them as they bring support and care to
many families is Kerrie Patford, the McGrath Foundation's chief nurse.
She's one of McGrath's OG's originals, with thirty five years
of clinical experience. And in this episode, we corner Kerry
(01:24):
as she sits in her car on the side of
yet another highway on yet another road trip, having sat
down with another woman who's just heard those awful words,
you have cancer. I started our conversation by pointing out
to Kerry Patford her role must take an awful lot
of boxes for job satisfaction.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
I guess for me, it's about the connection to people.
It's a pretty amazing feeling when you have someone that
comes into your workspace and they feel like their life
is in complete crisis.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
They have been, you know, I had a big not.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
To their mortality with hearing the word cancer.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
And I don't think.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Anything in their life can prepare you for hearing the
words that you have cancer and the chaos that those
words bring to your life. And I guess for me,
it's about bringing the person in, looking after them, giving
them the information that they need, sort of painting a
picture of what's in front of them, and giving them
(02:32):
the information and the confidence and the support to know
that they can what's in front of them, they can do,
and they can get through it, and that they don't
have to.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
Do it alone.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
I guess for women who live in regional areas, you know,
have you found that they're less inclined to reach out
and get some help. You know, like that that there
are lots more stoic than potentially other other women that
might be in metro areas with more of a suite
of services available to them.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Yeah, it's a combination of things. So often people that
are living in rural and regional areas only have access
to screening that comes around every couple of years, and
so they may not be as quick to seek a
diagnosis if they do notice a change. They might think,
I'll wait till the breast screen then comes around, and
(03:22):
you know that's too late. If you notice a change,
you need to get that scene too immediately. But the
other thing is that you know, often within rural relationships
that the wife's the best worker, and she's the second
part of the you know, she's the staff member that
the farm can't do without and can't cope without. And
(03:42):
so I think too, it's very hard for women that
work and live on the land that they need to
put themselves first, because that's not something that is in
their very nature that they have to step back let
everything else sort of be cared for by other people
or not be cared for at all, put their blinkers
(04:03):
on and.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Look after themselves for a while.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
And that is very difficult, particularly for women that have
always had that nurturing role.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, because one of the things you know that you
often hear about is managing other people's reactions to your
diagnosis can be equally challenging as well.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
And I am very aware of that.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And there's I always say that you know, when you
have a cancer diagnosis, you're going to find people that
lean in. So that's people that visit and sit with
you and quite productive in their company. And then you
have those that lean out. And a lot of the
people that lean out just don't know how to process
(04:48):
or to cope with a hearing of someone's diagnosis because
of their own personal experiences. So surround yourself with the
people that lean in. And the other thing I would
always say, people who's protect yourself and protect your information,
particularly in the early days when you don't always have
all of the information. You know, it's a lot of
(05:09):
waiting and waiting for results and for further investigations and
for dates of treatments until you actually have a plan
in place. It's very difficult to face people and answer
questions that you don't know your own answers to. So
just protecting yourself and you know, surrounding yourself with people
that make you feel good.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
What are the attributes that you look for in McGrath's
breast care cancerness.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Kindness, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to look
at the person and not just the biological pathology of
a cancer diagnosis. Yeah. So, and we've got quite strict
(05:55):
guidelines and what it takes to be in mcgar breast
cannis and so that includes being registered nurse, you know,
having an experience in the oncology or surgical space, and
that's coupled with tertiary qualifications all the way from you know,
a graduate certificate in cancer care all the way out
to Masters in Cancer Nursing.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Goodness, me, are those people hard to find?
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Carrie. We are really lucky that we have a really
I guess some sort after role.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
There is always someone that's looking to be a McGrath
breast Care nurse and we have a great education support.
So every aspect of our care reflects what's happening within
the medical and radiation and surgical space.
Speaker 6 (06:45):
A woman gets a diagnosis, when should she reach out
to the McGrath Foundation.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
As soon as she knows that she all day does
men get breast cancer too? As soon as they know
that they have a breast cancer diagnosis and who can
self refer? So just a quick phone call and we
know that the best outcome for people is when they
have access to a breast care nurse within seven days
of their diagnosis, which matches the.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Cancer Australia guidelines.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
And it's something that we aspire to as well. It's
just about creating an informed pathway and people having an
understanding and an expectation of what's going to happen next.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
More soon of our conversation with the McGrath Foundations Chief
nurse Kerry Patford as she encourages women and men to look, feel,
learn during this breast cancer Awareness month of October.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Back soon, I heartshoal Haven, I Heart shoal Haven.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Ali dreuer with you and back now to more of
our chat with Kerrie Patford, chief nurse with the McGrath Foundation.
Kerrie spends hours and kilometers traveling to ensure her army
of breast care nes nurses all two hundred and thirty
three of them are well supported in being able to
support those women and men facing not just the initial diagnosis,
(08:10):
but their surgeries, the side effects of the chemo or
radiation therapies, and also the emotional aspects of getting sick
to often be well again. So, in a practical sense,
how does carry approach a patient that's just received a
massive boult in their lives.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
What I first meet a patient, the first thing I
say is what's your story? And often breast cancer is
just a small part of their story. You know, they
could be a farmer, they could be a care for
elderly parents or disabled children, or you know, siblings or
foster parents and far you know, busy in different things
(08:49):
that a person has going on in their life, and
cancer is just one part of it. So I'm really
interested in knowing about the person, what a cancer diagnosis
means for that person, and what that means for their
family as well, because you'll find that family and home
duties come first, and if they feel like they can't
do both, that sometimes self sacrifice their own treatments to
(09:14):
be closer to home. And we don't want that. We
know that the best possible outcomes come with people that
are being able to have the treatment that's recommended for them.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
And also to try to sustain some normality.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, to not lose themselves is important.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
Do you see that emotional fortitude come through at these times?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
And I've had people say to me that you know
that they're never the same. That doesn't mean that they're
better or worse it, they're just different. That life's a
bit different. And I think that my life's a bit
different because of what I do too.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
I certainly have a greater.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
Gratitude for life and my good fortune, and that I
get to work with people that inspire me. And that's
not the you know, the wonderful clinicians. I work with
the patients that let me into their lives and share
their lives with me. You really get to know people
when they are incredibly vulnerable.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
And scared, and for me, that's not wasted.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
You know, that privilege is not wasted on me. I
find that incredibly remarkable and humbling that I get to
be a little bit of a part of that.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
How important is it do you feel to ensure that
women receive equitable care in their treatment? This is something
that often isn't touched on. You know that we all
come from different walks of life, different economic situations. That
sort of thing is that something that's that's easy to
manage in your role.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
It's not easy to manage and it's not a quick fix.
We know that people that live in rural and remote
areas have worse outcomes following a cancer diagnosis. And that's
a lot to do with, you know, access to screening
and access to specialist services, and the tyranny of distance
(11:13):
and being able to complete treatments and all of those
sorts of things, and also being diagnosed later with a
greater disease burden. But for women, we encourage you to look, feel,
and learn. So that is looking at your breast, you know,
when you're getting dressed in the morning, having a look
at your breast, see what's normal for you, take notice
(11:33):
in any dimpling, skin reddening or thickening, any rash or
unusual discharge, and you know feel so have a feel
for any lumps. And you know as you as you
go through the stages of life, your breasts change changes, yeah,
changes and sometimes go south a little bit. So it's
(11:58):
about knowing what's normal for you. You and making sure
that you know if you notice anything quickly quickly, that
you get a definitive diagnosis of what's going on.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
So look, feel and learn.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
It's looking and feeling and learning what's normal for you.
Speaker 6 (12:12):
Yeah, well that's exactly what happened to me. I was
blow drying my hair and I just noticed something when
I was blow drying it, you know, standing there in
front of the mirror. So's it's definitely early. The earlier
that you can recognize something ain't right, you've got to
get in there and you've got to get that checked
out for sure.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
You really do need you need an answer as to
what it is. And you know, nine times out of
ten it's nothing, and isn't that great? So it's isn't
it great? That's nothing. It's not time wasted to find
out that it's not going to be a cancer. But
you need to know.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
So the next time you are naked in front of
that bathroom mirror, have a good look, feel if there's
anything different, learn what is normal for you. If it
doesn't feel or look normal, get to your GP and
get it checked out. Fifty eight people are being diagnosed
with breast cancer every day this year. Find it early
(13:07):
and you'll have a much better outcome. That's all for now.
I'm Ali Drauer. I'll catch you next time.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
I heartshall haven
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