Renee Jones understands why people stare at her when she leaves the house. As if having lost her hair through the chemotherapy that is fighting off her breast cancer isn't enough, she's also 23 weeks pregnant.
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"People tend to stare a bit because of the cancer and being pregnant ... but people stare at all sorts of people," she says.
The stares don't matter to her - daughter Eden, 2, thinks her bald mum is beautiful and her supportive husband and brother had their heads shaved at the same time in a show of solidarity.
Ms Jones, 33, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 12 weeks pregnant after finding a lump in her left breast that was revealed as being a tumour in a milk duct.
So now she is not only preparing to welcome a new baby, but dealing with a rigorous chemotherapy regime to keep her as well as possible until the baby is born.
"I've just finished my fourth cycle of double-dose chemotherapy," she said. "They're trying to get as much through as they can before the baby is born, so once the baby arrives I just have to have radiation therapy and don't have to go through the horrible side effects of chemo with a newborn baby."
From next week Ms Jones will start weekly chemotherapy at Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre that will continue until she is 36 weeks pregnant.
Oncologists have told her she's the only pregnant cancer patient treated at BRICC in the past four years.
Doctors have assured her that chemotherapy is safe for her developing baby, but pregnancy has meant some changes to treatment have had to be made and it complicates the scans and x-rays needed during treatment.
"At about 15 weeks they did a lumpectomy because it was too early in the pregnancy for chemotherapy. Usually they do chemo first to shrink the tumour but they did the lumpectomy instead.
"The only real extra risk now is when I have to go in for a scan. I got a port put in for chemo and they had to do an x-ray and they go through all the things that could happen. That's a bit frightening to hear ... and a couple of scans I need to ensure the cancer hasn't spread can't be done until after the baby is born."
Further complicating Ms Jones' courageous fight for two lives is the coronavirus pandemic.
Because it was the early days of COVID-19 when Ms Jones was first diagnosed, Ballarat Health Services was not performing surgery so she had to go under the knife at St John of God Hospital despite not having private health insurance.
While some bills are still coming in, she estimates it has cost around $10,000.
And because of COVID-19 restrictions, her husband Trevor hasn't officially been able to attend any of her pregnancy scans, though he did sneak in to her 20-week scan.
Restrictions also mean only one person can accompany a patient for chemotherapy, and Eden has not been able to visit when she has been in hospital or attend any scans.
"I don't even know if she'll be able to come to the hospital to meet the baby when it's born and that's a moment any parent looks forward to," she said.
"Eden is so excited and the new baby is all she talks about. She rattles off what she's going to do - push it in the pram, give it a bottle - and she will be a very good big sister."
The couple have chosen not to find out the sex of their new family member.
"We haven't found out the sex. I need something to get me through this journey, a bit of a surprise at the end."
Ms Jones discovered the cancer in some scar tissue on her breast that resulted from having a mole removed about five years ago.
"The scar tissue changed and my breast felt a bit different, more like a lump, and I got it checked out. They didn't think it was cancer but did a biopsy and it was."
Because her father died four years ago from melanoma, Ms Jones feared her cancer might have a genetic link but testing confirmed it did not. She also feared it might he hormone-related because of the hormones she had to take for both pregnancies, which were created through IVF, but again it was not.
Instead the testing revealed it's a triple negative breast cancer which has no known cause.
But it's one of the tougher types of breast cancer to beat.
Oncologists have told Ms Jones she has an 87 per cent chance of surviving five years and beyond, but there is a 40 per cent chance it will recur in the next five years.
"If it does recur it doesn't necessarily come back in the breast, but in the liver, lungs or brain and usually when it comes back it's terminal. I'm staying positive but I have my days when I fear I won't see my kids to grow up. I can't seem to process pregnancy and cancer at the same time - it's either one or the other."
Ms Jones is thankful for strong support from family which is making a tough situation a little easier.
After her surgery, in which they also removed four lymph nodes, she could not lift Eden so they moved in with her mum, who has taken extended leave from work. Hubby Trevor works at one of the local quarries just minutes from their Bacchus Marsh home.
And her grandparents live in Ballarat East so they look after Eden when Ms Jones comes to BRICC for treatment.
Her mum and husband take it in turns to accompany Ms Jones to Ballarat for treatment and chemotherapy, and the times she has been hospitalised for dehydration resulting from the combination of chemotherapy and pregnancy.
"The one thing I struggle with a lot is dehydration. I just can't keep up with the amount of water I need and have been hospitalised a few times with dehydration.
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"But I've been pretty lucky and chemo hasn't hit me as hard as I thought. This last round has probably knocked me around the most. I get extreme fatigue ... if I have a shower I come out and have to nap as I'm absolutely exhausted."
Being diagnosed with cancer at such a young age has also driven Ms Jones to publicly chronicle her battle on her Facebook page.
"I'm pretty vocal about checking your breasts at whatever age. I never thought in a million years that at 33 I'd get breast cancer so I want to make sure every woman checks their boobs."
A friend has also set up a Go Fund Me page titled Renee's Support Fund to help the family with their medical bills and other costs over the coming months.
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