The annual Mater Foundation One Day in September Breakfast was a fun, informative and inspiring morning attended by over 200 of Brisbane’s business community and sporting enthusiasts.
The morning combined informative and entertaining discussions about the pending Australian Rugby Union, Australian Football League, and National Rugby League finals with retired Brisbane Broncos prop forward Shane Webcke, veteran Wallabies hooker Sean Hardman, past Norm Smith Medallist and Brisbane Lions midfielder Shaun Hart and champion goal shooter for the Australian netball team, Vicki Wilson.
Celebrity MC, ABC 612 radio announcer Rebecca Levingston, interviewed a panel of Mater medical experts who provided insight into the latest exciting developments in cancer research and services provided at Mater.
Rebecca, a prominent supporter of Mater—both on and off the airwaves—described her experiences meeting people going through cancer treatment as “humbling”.
“Whether cancer has affected a new mum, a sister, a father or a friend, the stories that I have heard are emotional, but also inspiring. People show such strength and dignity at an incredibly difficult time. Their experiences will stay with me forever,” Rebecca said.
“The September Breakfast gave us a fantastic insight into the ground-breaking treatments that are being developed at Mater Medical Research Institute. The researchers are clearly very passionate about the life-saving work they do and they’re at the very forefront of cancer research globally.
To sit in a room with patients and researchers and see that work come full circle was a special moment,” she said.
One such patient was father-of-two Paul Lauder who, at 37 years old, discovered he had bowel cancer and secondary liver cancer with eight very aggressive tumor growths.
Unable to have a liver transplant, Paul started chemotherapy straight away—visiting Mater Adult Hospital Oncology Day Unit fortnightly—which reduced the cancer in the first six months.
“I totally rely on the treatment keeping me alive. Now eighteen months on, I am in a stable condition—the treatment has had a good effect on my particular type of cancer. I have faith in further research for these treatments having greater affect in the near future.”
With no family history and no apparent symptoms for his cancer, Paul is hopeful that increased funding for research will help develop better methods of early diagnosis.
“Cancer is not discriminative. It can happen anytime and it certainly impacts lives dramatically,” Mr Lauder said.
To find out more information about cancer services and research at Mater, please contact Mater Foundation Director – Development Leigh Cleave on 07 3163 8000.