{"id":874482,"date":"2026-08-31T02:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874482\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T02:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:02:14","slug":"lynette-bolton-breast-cancer-jude-boltons-wife-almost-didnt-get-the-mammogram-that-caught-her-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/874482\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynette Bolton breast cancer: Jude Bolton\u2019s wife almost didn\u2019t get the mammogram that caught her cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lynette Bolton<\/a> 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.<\/a><\/p>\n

She\u2019d asked her GP for it months prior but like so many Australian women juggling parenthood and daily life, she\u2019d put off actually getting checked.<\/p>\n

\"Lynette<\/p>\n

Lynette Bolton was at a breast cancer charity event two months before she was diagnosed. She had no idea what lay ahead.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought it was going to be something that would get me,\u201d Lynette, 44, told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen at the end of November, I was just having a shower and I felt this lump in my boob that I didn\u2019t remember being there before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even then, she considered waiting to get a mammogram until after Christmas.<\/p>\n

It can be hard to get appointments so close to the holidays, and Lynette already had Christmas plans with her family \u2013 former Sydney Swans player husband Jude Bolton, 46, and their daughters Siarra and Piper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have left it until the new year. I thought, \u2018I\u2019m too young. I don\u2019t have any family history [of cancer],\u2019\u201d Lynette said.<\/p>\n

Something made her book the appointment right away. <\/p>\n

Within days, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer<\/a> and told she had to start chemotherapy as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Australian women and diagnoses have increased by about 15 per cent over the last decade.<\/p>\n

One in seven women and around one in 600 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Lynette struggled to accept her diagnosis, as did those closest to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think you\u2019re going to die,\u201d Lynette admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really tell Jude when I found the lump, I played it down […] so then telling him and telling the girls was interesting. I wasn\u2019t sure how they would react.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lynette<\/p>\n

Lynette Bolton captured this photo with husband Jude Bolton, \u201cChoose your partner as if your life depends on it … because one day it might\u201d.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

Siarra, 14, took some time coming to terms with the news.<\/p>\n

Piper, 11, had a teacher who had recently been through cancer treatment and promised Lynette she\u2019d take care of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, mum, if you\u2019ve got any questions just ask me because I\u2019m an expert\u2019. Which was really cute,\u201d Lynette said.<\/p>\n

Support from her children, husband, friends and family helped her through 12 weeks of chemotherapy<\/a>, followed by a lumpectomy in early 2026.<\/p>\n

Cancer treatment took a huge toll on Lynette, but she insisted on still showing up for her daughters even on her worst days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important to me to still do things like the school carnivals, and go to the netball games,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMum-ing and treatment … that was really all I managed to do for nine months.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lynette<\/p>\n

Lynette underwent genetic testing to ensure she didn\u2019t have the BRCA gene mutations, or pass them on to her daughters Piper, 11, and Siarra, 14.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

The side effects of chemotherapy were brutal, and she went into medical menopause almost overnight.<\/p>\n

Losing her hair was especially difficult, and not just because it hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery hair follicle was hurting. I would touch my head, and it would come out in my hands, so I had to shave it,\u201d Lynette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost it. I looked in the mirror and went, \u2018I look like I have cancer now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Siarra and Piper to change that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d throw my beanie on because I was embarrassed for the kids, but they were like, \u2018No, you look beautiful, you don\u2019t need to do that for us,\u2019\u201d Lynette said. <\/p>\n

\"Lynette<\/p>\n

Shaving her head after her hair started to fall out was a very emotional moment for Lynette.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

In time, Lynette became comfortable with her new look, though she was still excited when her hair started growing back recently.<\/p>\n

And she certainly wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single person has a cancer story, whether it\u2019s them personally, or they know someone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t cured cancer, so we should never stop shouting from the rooftops about awareness and funding and support and research until we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lynette<\/p>\n

Lynette previously dyed her hair pink while going through chemotherapy.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

Lynette was declared cancer-free in June but she\u2019s not out of the woods yet \u2013 and even if she was, the fear lingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was meant to be having immunotherapy until the end of the year, but I\u2019m beginning to get a few side effects so it\u2019s on hold for a minute,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel like it\u2019s just another curveball that\u2019s been thrown at me, just when I thought I was getting my life organised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just part of this cancer shit-show. You never know what the next day is going to bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynette\u2019s been stuck in fight or flight mode for nearly a year, and now she can see the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0@lynettec_bolton<\/p>\n

Until that future arrives, she has a simple message for the women still journeying through the darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake a breath. Know that you\u2019re not alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the sisterhood you never want to be a part of, but the one you couldn\u2019t do it without.\u201d<\/p>\n

Registrations are now open for the ACRF Brave Shave 2026. Learn more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lynette Bolton already had a referral for a mammogram lying around her house when she felt the lump…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-874482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}