This disease leaves a big hole in families - that can sometimes never be replaced.

By CATHY HEWITT

“A woman is like a teabag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt.

That is one of the best quotations I have ever read. I am surrounded by the most amazing women from all walks of life from my beautiful family and friends. I have lifelong friends that I have known since kindergarten. I have been blessed with amazing friends that I have known for a long time and some that I have known for a short time, but they  have been put in my life, for a reason –  To teach me how to stay positive and strong. I have friends that have dealt with many issues. Broken marriages, losing their homes to fire, losing a child and yet these women have never given up! What about the beautiful women that have been diagnosed with breast cancer? Did they give up? No they didn’t.

Yes, they cried and they were scared but they did what they had to do. They did the chemo and the hair loss and took each day as it came. They hugged their children and prayed that they would still be here to watch them grow into adults. Remarkably, they did.

My girlfriend of seventeen years has watched her son turn into a man. As I told her then, she never looked more beautiful than when she was bald. We all drew strength from her determination to beat this disease. I have watched my sister-in-law find a lump in her breast to having her breast removed and then reconstructed.

With saying that, I have two daughters that needed to be aware of that side of the family and the history of breast cancer. Fortunately, because it is on their father’s side of the family, it is not as serious as if it was on mine. These women have gone through these adversities and won! I have another beautiful friend who watched her Mum go through with being diagnosed with breast cancer. Going through with the nausea, the chemo and the hair loss. But, at the same time, she was planning her next holiday with her husband. My friend’s doctor advised her to have herself checked and  found nothing, but just to be very, very certain, she had an MRI. She did all the tests to make sure that she did not have it and that she would also not be passing anything to her daughter who had just begun kindergarten. She also passed with flying colours! She also stayed positive and calm.

When my eldest daughter asked me to do this walk with her on behalf of breast cancer research, I said yes with no hesitation. We have done other walks over the years in the hope that there will be a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime.

As a team of “Phenomenal Women” our contribution is something that will go towards helping each and every woman in the world, to eliminate this dreadful and horrible disease that takes too many lives, that takes Mums away from their children and partners and leaves a big hole in families that sometimes can never be replaced.

I feel very privileged to be writing this blog for Mamamia Cares. To know that we are striving towards another step in getting rid of this disease, to keep Mums with their kids and to celebrate a lifetime of achievements. We have been raising money towards this goal and I would like to thank everyone for their contributions. We will celebrate, and cheer and love our lives. As someone said a long time ago,”Life is not a dress rehearsal”.

If you would like to contribute to this very worthy cause – http://www.gofundme.com/PhenomenalWomen

Hi, I am Cate and I love life. I am very lucky to live near the coast in suburban Sydney. My tastes are many and varied. I love my music from classical to Nickelback . I love to cook, my favourite being Italian and Thai. I love being out in the fresh air and we have the best country to do this in. The best to describe myself is solving social issues and smoothing ruffled feathers  by day, and raging Nickelback fan and chocaholic by night. You can find my Twitter, Facebook, and blog accounts by clicking on the links.