A chance encounter at parent-teacher night and a Google search probably saved Vanessa's life

Rushing between parent-teacher meetings, Vanessa Chappelow was surprised to spot an old friend in the corridors of her youngest daughter's new high school.

What that woman uttered quietly to the mum-of-two probably saved her life.

"She just said to me really quickly, 'I have breast cancer', and I said, 'oh my gosh, we have to catch up, are you okay?' I felt so bad for her," Chappelow tells 9honey. 

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"The next day, I saw something in the mirror."

If not for the chance meeting at parent-teacher night in 2022, she probably would have ignored the slight dimpling on one of her breasts.

After all, Chappelow had no family history of breast cancer and had been told she didn't need regular mammograms until she hit 50.

But as she stared at the mirror, her friend's voice echoed in her mind.

"I thought, 'Could this be something?' And I just started Googling," she says. The results were damning.

In the space of a few keystrokes, Chappelow's phone screen was filled with links to articles about breast cancer symptoms. Her stomach sank. She called her GP.

A few days later, she was booked in for a mammogram and ultrasound where doctors admitted things didn't look good. 

"The person that was doing the ultrasound, held my hand and got me tissues because she felt sorry for me," Chappelow says.

Doctors had to do a biopsy and a week later it was confirmed in a phone call she'll never forget.

At just 45, Chappelow had breast cancer. 

"It was a complete shock. It wasn't even on my radar," she says, "you never think it's going to be you."

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Her husband was right by her side as she got the news over speakerphone, but telling their two daughters, aged 12 and 14, that mum had cancer was the hardest part.

"I didn't want to scare them. I wanted to tell them everything will be okay," Chappelow says, voice shaking with emotion, "It still makes me cry. I just wanted to protect them."

The cancer had been caught early thanks to her friend's warning, but it was still a terrifying time for Chappelow's whole family.

First she had surgery to remove the tumour growing in her breast, then she started six months of chemotherapy that changed her physically and mentally.

Chappelow went into survival mode; it was her only option.

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Chemo made her sick and exhausted, her brain filled with fog as her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes began to fall out.

"I remember standing in the mirror shaving my head, and I had to call my husband upstairs to shave the back of my head because I couldn't see," she recalls. 

"I'm looking in the mirror thinking, 'oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm actually doing this.' But hair grows back."

But it was the sheer emotional toll of going through breast cancer treatment that caught Chappelow by surprise.

A busy mum, she wanted to keep life 'normal' for her daughters, wanted to be strong and never worry them, but that in itself put pressure on her mental health.

In the end, letting her emotions out – accepting that she couldn't be strong all the time – is what helped get her through the months of chemo and radiation after that.

As did one very important coffee date with that old friend who started it all.

"When I saw her, I just said, 'I have breast cancer too' and she burst out crying. We sat at this coffee shop for about four hours," Chappelow says through tears.

"She was a tremendous support to me [...] I call her my guardian angel."

After 20 rounds of radiation, she wrapped up treatment in February 2023 and has been cancer-free ever since, but the journey isn't over.

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Chappelow might not have found her breast cancer if not for that chance encounter at parent-teacher night and hates to think that other women lose their lives simply because they don't know to be 'breast aware'.

One in seven women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and the disease kills nine Australians every day, but the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is working hard to change that.

NBCF has partnered with ghd on its 2024 limited-edition pink collection, where $20 from every purchase goes towards achieving the foundation's vision of Zero Deaths from Breast Cancer in Australia.  

It may seem like a distant dream, but Chappelow knows it's one worth fighting for.

Her own cancer journey is still raw, her story still hard to tell, but she'll keep sharing it – even through tears – if it means saving lives.

"I want to do something good from this. If I can help somebody in any small way, something good has also come out of something bad," she says.

"Be breast aware. Know what's normal for you. And if you notice anything, please don't brush it off. Just go straight to the GP and get it checked."

The ghd Limited Edition Pink Collection celebrates the brand's 20^th year supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation and will be donating $20 from every purchase to support research. More info here.

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