By Brendan Rees
In February this year Nat Wenke found a lump on her breast while showering. Not thinking much of it, she texted her husband telling him she would see a doctor that night and not to stress.
Three days later the mother of four was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, just two weeks shy of her 43rd birthday.
She has fought hard all year and to her relief she given the news she was cancer free on the 25 September.
“Your life just changes and I don’t think I’ll ever get back to normal,” Nat says.
On 16-17 November, Nat of Carrum Downs will join her family in the annual Cranbourne-Narre Relay for Life at Casey Fields in Cranbourne East – which raises funds for the Cancer Council of Victoria.
So far 19 teams have signed up for the event which has already raised nearly $30,000.
Nat’s daughter, Hayley Zantuck, started the team ‘Wenke’s Warriors’ to support her mum and will be taking part in the Relay for Life for the first time, celebrating the hope they have for the future.
Nat has also been selected as this year’s Face of Hope – a person who inspires their team and the community. She will have the honour of reading the Relay for Life Oath at the opening ceremony and also cutting the ribbon.
“It’s not something you want to have a team for but we are here … we’re going to raise as much as we can and support everybody,” Nat says.
Nat is currently undergoing radiation therapy to treat due to the cancer spreading to lymph nodes under her arms but doctors have confirmed it “hasn’t gone anywhere else”.
“I’m starting to get tired now, I’m three weeks in … my bones are starting to fatigue,” she says.
Nat described her six months of chemo therapy as “horrible” where she often felt sick for the first three months.
“The thing I hate about it is the effect it has on your friends and family and me being a mum I try and double everything and do it myself,” she says.
“I’m always helping but I never ask. I had to reply on other people. I’m very independent and I lost all of that.
“You just push on because you have to,” she adds.
“There has been progress made because 10 years ago I had of got this cancer I would’ve been a goner. There’s a drug called Herceptin that I take and that’s the life saver”.
Details for the Relay for Life: Starts at 4pm Saturday 16 November to 12pm Sunday 17 November. There will also be kids activities, live entertainment and food trucks.
The opening ceremony will start at 3.45pm on Saturday with a candle light ceremony at 8.30pm. The closing ceremony will be held at 12pm on Sunday.
