Just the reassurance that what Denise saw and felt would be temporary.

This was not a place Denise expected to find herself late last year, amid lockdowns, trying to navigate her cancer journey but there was comfort in the familiar.

The Wellness Centre space, tucked in Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre, had become a home-like base for the Wren family during her husband Shayne's treatment for an inoperable head and neck tumour three years ago.

For daughter Gabrielle, the centre had been a handy place to meet her parents after school and watch television, study or grab a snack while she waited. When Denise was undergoing radiation, often by herself, this was a space for the now 21-year-old Gabrielle to wait.

Denise said it was often the incidental conversations they had with others in the Wellness Centre that meant so much, either to reassure, offer perspective or share handy tips for better understanding their cancer journeys.

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"There's no pressure. You don't have to check in with anyone or get permission to be there. You just feel welcome," Denise said.

"It was an important space for myself, my daughter and my husband...all the things that were available for us but often people would share their stories. It's a nice shift for you, sharing similar stories rather than just focusing on your own situation."

The Wrens are sharing their story for Dry July, encouraging community members to go sober and raise funds for the BRICC Wellness Centre, which supports people with cancer and their families across the region.

BRICC Wellness Centre, which is located within Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital, is a retreat for patients and carers regardless of where they are having treatment. Funded wholly by the community, the centre also offers a suite of wellness programs, like free oncology massage and financial counselling.

Denise indirectly discovered her cancer when taking part in her work's push-up challenge as a way to stay healthy and connected with colleagues during lockdowns. Initially feeling she had pulled a muscle, Denise checked in with her general practitioner and mentioned a cyst that had showed up in a mammogram last January.

Scans revealed a tumour on the opposite side of her chest.

In a way, this was not unlike her husband Shayne who had started experiencing a sore neck after giving up competitive tennis to focus on his golf swing. Seeking medical advice, Shayne was found to have a tumour.

As she lost her hair and eyebrows during treatment, Denis tapped into the Wellness Centre's Look Good, Feel Good online support program. Denise also had a play in the centre's wig library and accessed bra fittings.

"These are supportive services I probably wouldn't have gone and sought myself. Going into shops is the last thing you feel like doing when you are feeling so unwell," Denise said.

"Your body shape changes and you're not even familiar with your own image anymore. To have other women in the Wellness Centre say these things were temporary was important."

Like Shayne, Denise enjoyed the oncology massages to help stretch out tense tendons that were under stress in treatment.

Shayne said the Wellness Centre was also a place he could reflect, even for five or 10 minutes, and find a clearer head before heading back to the car after appointments and treatment.

Shayne has passed his four-year review cancer-free while Denise finished her cancer treatment in March. She said she was now in the repairing stage with her hair, eyelashes, eyebrows and nails all grown or growing back.

They, along with Ballarat Health Services medical oncology clinical director Stephen Brown, encourage people taking up the sober challenge or raising non-alcoholic glasses next month to support BRICC Wellness Centre via Dry July.

"The Wellness Centre is important because it enables us to provide additional supports to our patients that wouldn't otherwise be available, or might be cost prohibitive to patients," Dr Brown said.

"In addition to being a welcoming and calming space for some quiet time, the programs at the Wellness Centre are aimed at supporting more than the physical side effects, but also the psychological, financial and social challenges that can accompany a cancer diagnosis and treatment."

To donate, get sober and raise funds for BRICC Wellness Centre, visit: dryjuly.com and search for Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre.

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