A Tasmanian woman who spent three years waiting on the elective surgery list for a breast reconstruction after cancer, says the uncertainty forced her to put her life on hold. Advocates for cancer patients say women are being left in the dark after life-changing decisions and there needs to be more information about availability of surgical services.
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00:00Sheree Lowne says cancer took a lot from her, but there's something she can get back.
00:06Her breasts.
00:08After three and a half years, she's finally getting a reconstruction.
00:11For me, it means that I won and I'm closing that cancer chapter and I can move forward
00:17and not look back anymore.
00:19Sheree had a double mastectomy in late 2019, but because she needed radiation therapy afterwards,
00:25she couldn't get a reconstruction straight away.
00:28Since she was cancer free for a year, she joined the elective surgery wait list, which
00:32was 12,000 people long at the time.
00:34There was no definitive time and that was worse mentally for me, because I felt like
00:41I couldn't plan anything, I didn't want to go away in case I got the phone call.
00:45For Sheree, this is about taking control of her body after losing her hair too.
00:50I feel like everything that made me feminine was ripped away.
00:54The Breast Cancer Network Australia says long waits aren't uncommon and transparency
00:59is important to help women make informed choices.
01:02So that then they can choose and make that choice to either go flat and not have a reconstruction,
01:09but also have the information to go private if they can go privately.
01:15The health department revealed this week the longest waits for elective surgery in Tasmania
01:20exceed five years.
01:22If it grows into months or even years, it can be a significant impact on their psychological
01:28state, on their family and on their productivity.
01:32There are 71 Tasmanians on the wait list for a breast reconstruction or reduction.
01:37The health department says it's recently hired a new surgeon at the Royal Hobart Hospital
01:42and it's delivering additional procedures with a focus on those who've been waiting
01:46the longest.
01:48Sheree's surgery comes just in time for her 40th birthday.
01:52I want my 40s to be different, I want my 40s to be about living, not surviving.
01:56Reaching the end of a five year long journey.