\u201cWhen I\u2019m playing bowls, I\u2019m not thinking about cancer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about the next shot and whether the bowl is actually going to do what I asked it to.\u201d<\/p>\n
A senior and representative player, Wood says bowls gives her a much-needed mental break.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets me out of my own head,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t really feel sorry for yourself when you\u2019re lining up a bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n
That focus on living fully underpins how she approaches her illness \u2013 and comes as new research shows outcomes for people diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in Aotearoa are improving.<\/p>\n
Mehdi Shahbazpour – Breast Cancer Foundation NZ head of research and strategic programmes.<\/p>\n
A national picture<\/p>\n
Mehdi Shahbazpour, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ head of research and strategic programmes, said advanced breast cancer was when the disease spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other parts of the body, <\/p>\n
Shahbazpour said more than 350 people are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in New Zealand every year, and many live with the disease long term.<\/p>\n
New research released by the foundation shows median survival for people with advanced breast cancer has increased, and M\u0101ori outcomes are now on par with non-M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we look at how Kiwis are doing when they\u2019re diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, we are starting to see some improvements, which is great,\u201d Shahbazpour said.<\/p>\n
However, he said there were still clear opportunities to do better \u2014 particularly through prevention, early diagnosis and improved follow-up care.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the main things is making sure as many people as possible have their cancer diagnosed early through screening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives people a much better chance of reducing the risk of recurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shahbazpour said people who go on to develop advanced breast cancer must also have timely access to the best available treatments and stronger monitoring once initial treatment ends.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to do better at diagnosing advanced breast cancer earlier than we currently are,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat means surveillance and follow-up for early breast cancer patients needs to be standardised and modernised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood said her experience reflected both the progress being made \u2013 and the gaps that remained.<\/p>\n
Diana Wood with her dogs Willow and Summer. Photo\/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n
First diagnosis<\/p>\n
Wood was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 after a routine mammogram picked up a pea-sized lump deep in her breast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it hadn\u2019t been for that mammogram, I never would have found it myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She was shocked when doctors told her she would need a mastectomy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a tiny lump,\u201d she said.\u201cBut I did what I was told and got on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood underwent surgery, chemotherapy and five years of hormone therapy. When treatment ended, she believed the worst was behind her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt confident I\u2019d make it past the 10-year cancer-free milestone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really thought that chapter of my life was over.\u201d<\/p>\n
When cancer came back<\/p>\n
Nine years later, on April Fools\u2019 Day in 2022, that confidence was shattered.<\/p>\n
During a routine self-check, Wood discovered a lump under her arm and was referred back to the breast clinic.<\/p>\n
Scans and a biopsy revealed the cancer had returned \u2014 and progressed to stage four \u2014 spreading to her lymph nodes, ribs, spine and tailbone.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family was with me when my GP told me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI let him keep talking to them and I walked out to the car. I just couldn\u2019t deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The signs she didn\u2019t recognise<\/p>\n
Looking back, Wood now realises the warning signs had been there long before her diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor about a year, I\u2019d had aches and pains in my back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got so bad I had to stop playing bowls for a while, which was huge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, she assumed it was just part of getting older.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea the pain was likely caused by cancer spreading,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I\u2019d known what to look out for. If someone had told me these things could be symptoms, I would\u2019ve gone back sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grieving, then choosing to live<\/p>\n
After learning her cancer was now advanced, Wood went through a period of grief \u2014 not just for her health, but for the future she thought she had secured.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou grieve for the life you expected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have that moment where you think, \u2018This isn\u2019t fair\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she made a conscious decision not to let that grief define her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided I wasn\u2019t going to be miserable to be around all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have to get on with it \u2013 with life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hardest part \u2013 waiting<\/p>\n
One of the hardest aspects of living with advanced cancer, Wood said, was the waiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that space between being assessed and waiting to hear what happens next,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired of waiting, and I\u2019m tired of feeling tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s even tried to strike certain words from her vocabulary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaiting and tired \u2013 those are two words I\u2019m trying really hard not to use, because that\u2019s all we use,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Diana Wood says she appreciates every single day now. Photo\/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n
Treatment \u2014 and hope<\/p>\n
After her stage four diagnosis, Wood began taking Ibrance, a targeted therapy that worked well for nearly three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gave me my life back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could keep playing bowls, keep gardening, keep knitting for the hospital and spend time with my grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t sick \u2014 I was living.\u201d<\/p>\n
But a few months ago, Wood found another lump on her chest wall. A biopsy confirmed the cancer had progressed again, and she was told she could no longer take the drug.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked my oncologist, \u2018Is this it then?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe laughed and said, \u2018No, no \u2014 we\u2019re still good.\u2019 That meant everything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood is now preparing for her next step, with surgery scheduled for February 5 \u2014 the day after she spoke with the Waikato Herald.<\/p>\n
The uncertainty is difficult, she admits, but fear doesn\u2019t get to run the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was first told I had stage four cancer, they gave me three to five years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy attitude has always been that I\u2019ll outlive that.\u201d<\/p>\n
She still wants to see things.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandchildren growing up, getting married.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living with advanced breast cancer has changed her priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate every single day now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put my energy into what makes me happy and being around good, positive people. That\u2019s how I cope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen I\u2019m playing bowls, I\u2019m not thinking about cancer,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m thinking about the next shot and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24928,2831,2534,42834,14322,1364,31989,702,4188,153281,111,43,139,69,180,1524,102],"class_list":["post-270626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-advanced","tag-breast","tag-cancer","tag-dying","tag-grandmother","tag-her","tag-im","tag-it","tag-living","tag-motto","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-shares","tag-waikato","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}