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- Karen's Story "You've got to live in the moment"
Karen’s story: “You’ve got to live in the moment.”
After decades of hard work, Karen was ready to enjoy retirement with her husband Alan who had just completed a year of treatment for prostate cancer.
They were looking forward to a new chapter together, but only six weeks after Alan’s treatment finished, Karen received her own cancer diagnosis. With the support of McGrath Cancer Care Nurse, Georgia, Karen is learning to navigate a very different kind of retirement, one focused on care, and living for the now.
Karen’s diagnosis and treatment
Newly retired, Karen was taking her puppy for a walk when she started to feel what she thought was a stitch. After a couple of weeks of the pain coming and going, she took herself to hospital. “I thought it could be appendicitis,” she says.
A scan revealed Metastatic Appendiceal Signet ring Adenocarcinoma. A rare and aggressive cancer, starting in the appendix. “The doctor told me I had a tumour on my appendix and there were other spots as well, in the liver and bowel. It came as a complete shock. My thoughts were, what’s next? I was worried where to go from here.”
Karen called her son Ben and asked him to be with her husband when she shared the news. “Upsetting my family worried me more than anything,” she says. “My husband Alan was devastated, and my son Ben was extremely upset.”
Karen started chemotherapy in April 2025. “I lost 22 kilos in eight weeks. I had no appetite; I just couldn’t stomach food. I lost a lot of muscle and felt so weak. I was tired, bedridden, and had no energy. Karen recalls. “It’s been full on.”
Despite everything, Karen’s positivity shines through. “This is not how I expected retirement to go,” she says. “But you’ve just got to keep going. You can’t stop living.”
“It came as a complete shock. My thoughts were, what’s next?”
- Karen
Karen and her McGrath Cancer Care Nurse, Georgia
Karen met Georgia partway through treatment, and the impact was immediate. “Georgia is beautiful inside and out, I couldn’t get through this without her. She listens and picks up things I miss. Before her, I didn’t have anyone who knew more about my cancer than me. Georgia is someone to talk to who is an expert. She fully understands and makes things easier.”
For Georgia, Karen was one of the first patients she supported after starting her role in Gympie in April 2025. It was connection she remembers clearly.
“By the time I met Karen, she’d already been through so much,” Georgia says. “She’d had clots in her legs, long hospital stays, antibiotics, blood thinners, mobility issues. Her body had taken a real hit. She was nervous and scared to keep going.”
Georgia quickly became the steady support Karen vitally needed.
“She makes me feel like I’m the only person she’s looking after.”
“She makes me feel like I’m the only person she’s looking after.”
- Karen
The difference a McGrath Cancer Care Nurse makes
Georgia’s support extended to Karen’s husband Alan and son Ben. Appointments, scan bookings, timing medications, sitting in on doctor reviews. Georgia helped the family stay steady during a time when everything felt uncertain.
“Sometimes it’s harder for the family than it is for the patient,” Georgia says. “Karen doesn’t want Alan to carry all that weight, so I fill that role. I’m a friendly face they know they can call. And that goes for Alan too.”
Watching Karen find her footing has been meaningful for Georgia.
“Where I’ve really seen the benefit of my role is being that face-to-face support, helping decipher information, the psychosocial support she needed, and being a point of contact,” Georgia explains. “She knows I’ve got it covered. She doesn’t have to worry because I do the worrying for her.”
And for Karen, the care has been a game changer.
“She comes in when I get results and treatment from the doctor. She listens and picks up things and absorbs it all. I don’t realise a lot of what I miss. She then interprets it all.”
The expansion of McGrath Cancer Care Nurses to all cancers has meant a great deal to Karen.
“You’ve got no idea how wonderful it is the McGrath Foundation is now taking care to all cancers. It takes the pressure off, and the worry away.”
For now, Karen is focusing on what matters most. “I need to have things to look forward to, things that keep me positive. You’ve got to live in the moment and enjoy every milestone as life can change tomorrow. I wasn’t expecting this, and here we are, so don’t put things off.”
Vanessa Kostrz was diagnosed with breast cancer just 18 months after an anal cancer diagnosis. With back-to-back cancers, she knows the difference a McGrath Cancer Care Nurse makes.
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