Lynette Bolton already had a referral for a mammogram lying around her house when she felt the lump in her right breast that led to a cancer diagnosis.
She’d asked her GP for it months prior but like so many Australian women juggling parenthood and daily life, she’d put off actually getting checked.
Lynette Bolton was at a breast cancer charity event two months before she was diagnosed. She had no idea what lay ahead. @lynettec_bolton
“I never thought it was going to be something that would get me,” Lynette, 44, told nine.com.au.
“Then at the end of November, I was just having a shower and I felt this lump in my boob that I didn’t remember being there before.”
Even then, she considered waiting to get a mammogram until after Christmas.
It can be hard to get appointments so close to the holidays, and Lynette already had Christmas plans with her family – former Sydney Swans player husband Jude Bolton, 46, and their daughters Siarra and Piper.
“I could have left it until the new year. I thought, ‘I’m too young. I don’t have any family history [of cancer],’” Lynette said.
Something made her book the appointment right away.
Within days, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer and told she had to start chemotherapy as soon as possible.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian women and diagnoses have increased by about 15 per cent over the last decade.
One in seven women and around one in 600 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
And though the five-year relative survival rate is over 90 per cent, the number of diagnoses and deaths keep rising; it currently kills about 3300 people in Australia every year.
Lynette struggled to accept her diagnosis, as did those closest to her.
“You think you’re going to die,” Lynette admitted.
“I didn’t really tell Jude when I found the lump, I played it down […] so then telling him and telling the girls was interesting. I wasn’t sure how they would react.”
Lynette Bolton captured this photo with husband Jude Bolton, “Choose your partner as if your life depends on it … because one day it might”. @lynettec_bolton
Siarra, 14, took some time coming to terms with the news.
Piper, 11, had a teacher who had recently been through cancer treatment and promised Lynette she’d take care of her.
“She’s like, ‘Don’t worry, mum, if you’ve got any questions just ask me because I’m an expert’. Which was really cute,” Lynette said.
Support from her children, husband, friends and family helped her through 12 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a lumpectomy in early 2026.
Cancer treatment took a huge toll on Lynette, but she insisted on still showing up for her daughters even on her worst days.
“It was important to me to still do things like the school carnivals, and go to the netball games,” she said.
“Mum-ing and treatment … that was really all I managed to do for nine months.”
Lynette underwent genetic testing to ensure she didn’t have the BRCA gene mutations, or pass them on to her daughters Piper, 11, and Siarra, 14. @lynettec_bolton
The side effects of chemotherapy were brutal, and she went into medical menopause almost overnight.
Losing her hair was especially difficult, and not just because it hurt.
“Every hair follicle was hurting. I would touch my head, and it would come out in my hands, so I had to shave it,” Lynette said.
“I lost it. I looked in the mirror and went, ‘I look like I have cancer now.’”
There was a period of awkwardness and shame when she would hide her head under a beanie just to go to the shops, or when her kids brought friends over.
It didn’t take long for Siarra and Piper to change that.
“I’d throw my beanie on because I was embarrassed for the kids, but they were like, ‘No, you look beautiful, you don’t need to do that for us,’” Lynette said.
Shaving her head after her hair started to fall out was a very emotional moment for Lynette. @lynettec_bolton
“It was just so kind, and I got to the point where I did start walking around the shops without a beanie on because there are so many kids whose mothers go through this [and] you never see anyone walking around with a bald head.”
In time, Lynette became comfortable with her new look, though she was still excited when her hair started growing back recently.
And she certainly wasn’t going to buzz it off again any time soon, so when the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) asked her to be an ambassador for its Brave Shave 2026 campaign Lynette agreed to dye it a crazy colour instead.
It’s a small act of resistance that can make a big impact as the ACRF continues to raise money to help drive breakthroughs in cancer detection and treatment.
“Every single person has a cancer story, whether it’s them personally, or they know someone,” she said.
“We haven’t cured cancer, so we should never stop shouting from the rooftops about awareness and funding and support and research until we have.”
Lynette previously dyed her hair pink while going through chemotherapy. @lynettec_bolton
Lynette was declared cancer-free in June but she’s not out of the woods yet – and even if she was, the fear lingers.
“I was meant to be having immunotherapy until the end of the year, but I’m beginning to get a few side effects so it’s on hold for a minute,” she said.
“I just feel like it’s just another curveball that’s been thrown at me, just when I thought I was getting my life organised.
“It’s just part of this cancer shit-show. You never know what the next day is going to bring.”
Lynette’s been stuck in fight or flight mode for nearly a year, and now she can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
She just hopes to see a future when every woman gets to bask in that light, where no more lives are lost to this disease.
This photo of was taken right before Lynette received a breast cancer diagnosis. Now she can see the light at the end of the tunnel. @lynettec_bolton
Until that future arrives, she has a simple message for the women still journeying through the darkness.
“Take a breath. Know that you’re not alone,” she said.
“This is the sisterhood you never want to be a part of, but the one you couldn’t do it without.”
Registrations are now open for the ACRF Brave Shave 2026. Learn more here.