Months after finding a tiny lump, Ellie and her sister underwent double mastectomies the same day

Growing up, Ellie Rogers and Lisa Bardas were as close as two sisters could be.

"We were four years apart and our parents separated when Ellie was four and I was eight, so we really were a team from a very early age," Bardas recalls.

Throughout their lives, there were many milestones, both good and bad, without imagining a shared experience would change the trajectory of their lives.

In 2017, Rogers, then aged 38, was lying in bed when she felt a tiny lump in her chest.

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"I sleep with my hands on my chest and I felt a little lump. It was the size of [the tip of] a biro pen, and it wasn't even on the boob but up higher, just below the clavicle [collarbone]," she said.

Alarmed, she rang a friend in the medical field who suggested she get it checked.

Having been pedantic about her health since the sisters' mother died of a very rare form of cancer years earlier, Rogers visited the GP.

It was a decision that likely saved her life – and her sister's.

Rogers was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.

Australian charity Breast Cancer Trials says it accounts for about 15 per cent of breast cancers, is more aggressive and usually affects younger women.

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It also has a greater chance of spreading to other areas of the body, known as metastatic cancer, and is linked to higher relapse rates and lower survival rates because there are fewer treatment options.

Rogers, then a mother of two children aged three and five, underwent a lumpectomy to remove the cancer followed by chemotherapy.

"I didn't want to take any chances," she said.

"Breast cancer at that stage does not make you sick, but the chemo makes you feel like you are not in the world with everyone else.

"It is horrible and you feel sick all the time."

During her treatment, Bardas moved in to help care for her sister and her family.

It was towards the end of her treatment that Rogers found out she had tested positive for the BRCA1 gene.

According to Cancer Council, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are "faulty genes that increase the risk of certain cancers," including breast and ovarian cancer.

It was suggested Bardas and their father also get tested.

Despite a 50 per cent chance she had the gene, Bardas thought it was "a waste of time and energy to call me in to tell me I don't have it."

Her husband was by her side when she was told she had the gene.

"I am not really emotional but I was just gasping and hysterically crying," Bardas said.

According to Cancer Australia, women who carry the faulty BRCA1 or BRCA2 have an increased risk of breast cancer of 30 to 60 per cent, and a lifetime ovarian cancer risk of about 20 per cent.

By the end of the appointment, Bardas had made up her mind to have her ovaries removed.

Rogers would later have the same surgery.

"I just said, 'I have had my family. I am 42. I want to have a hysterectomy now,'" Bardas said.

Her surgery, in November 2017, was complicated due to scarring caused by previous caesarean births, resulting in infections.

Once recovered, the sisters started making plans to undergo double mastectomies and decided to schedule their surgeries to take place on the same day, using the same surgeon.

"If we were both going to do it, we wanted to do it together," Bardas said.

"That way our family only has to go through it once. Ellie got wheeled out and I got wheeled in."

The surgeries took place in January 2018. While Rogers' mastectomies and consequent reconstructions were relatively straightforward, Bardas suffered a number of complications, including numerous severe infections, which required one of her implants to be removed permanently.

Neither was prepared for the pain and "violating of our bodies" a double mastectomy entailed, but knew they made the right decision for their families, including Bardas's two boys, then aged 11 and 14.

Two Sisters Foundation

Just one year after their surgeries, the pair launched Two Sisters Foundation.

"We decided that we really needed to make a difference," Bardas said.

"Ellie has a daughter and we made it our absolute mission to get involved in shutting this down because we don't want any other women to feel violated and go through these tortuous procedures that we did."

They partnered with Melbourne's Walter & Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), which has a breast cancer research program.

They set themselves a goal of raising $5 million in five years and have so far raised $3.5 million.

They also set out to educate women about breast cancer, its symptoms and the need to know their own bodies.

Just this week, they released research they commissioned that revealed a worrying gap in breast cancer awareness.  

A study of 1031 Australian women found that while more than 90 per cent knew a lump was a symptom of breast cancer, many were unaware that a change in the nipple was also a sign of breast cancer. 

The data also found that almost one-third of women did not regularly check their breasts.  

Their latest effort to encourage women to look for changes in their breasts and raise funds saw them partner with Australian jewellery designer Lucy Folk to create a one-of-a kind gold nipple for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The $10,000 ring is being raffled to fund WEHI's latest research, which is looking at ways to stop breast cancer before it occurs. 

Professor Jane Visvader, co-head of WEHI's breast cancer laboratory, said "Our work focuses on prevention. We've already discovered the likely cells of origin for BRCA-related cancers, and our research has led to clinical trials that could prevent these cancers from ever developing, without the need for surgery."

Rogers, who relocated to Noosa with her family after her breast cancer battle, and Bardas, of Melbourne, came together this week to launch the raffle and take sponsors on a tour of WEHI's breast cancer laboratory.

Most importantly, the sisters want women to "trust your gut" and not be afraid to speak up if you think something is wrong.

"We want women to be unafraid of their breasts and nipples," Bardas, now 49, said.

"You need to be looking at them, touching them, and doing it with diligence so you know what your normal is."

Both women count themselves lucky that Rogers, now 45, knew her body well enough that such a tiny lump led her to see a doctor.

"I think the message is getting the education out there to know what your normal is and to be unafraid to take care of yourself," said Bardas, who noted mothers in particular often put their health last due to the time constraints of caring for a family.

"But [breast cancer] doesn't just affect you, it affects everyone in the family. Everyone suffers. So I would say, 'Make the time.'"

You can find out more about the foundation and the raffle by visiting their website.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The National Breast Cancer Foundation said every year in Australia more than 21,000 people — or 58 people every day — will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

Breast cancer accounts for more than 3300 deaths each year in Australia.

While breast cancer five-year survival rates have increased from 76 per cent to 92 per cent since 1994, the National Breast Cancer Foundation has set a goal of zero deaths from breast cancer.

Symptoms of breast cancer may include:

• A lump or thickening in the breast, especially if it is only in one breast.
• Changes to the shape or size of the breast.
• Changes to the shape of the nipple, such as crusting, sores or ulcers, redness or inversion (a nipple that turns in when it used to point out).
• Changes to the skin of the breast, such as dimpling (sometimes looking like an orange peel), a rash, scaly appearance, unusual redness or other colour changes.
• Fluid leaking or discharge from the nipple that occurs without squeezing.
• Persistent, unusual pain that doesn't go away.
• Swelling or discomfort in the armpit.

More details can be found on the National Breast Cancer Foundation website.