Miss World Australia Madeline Cowe answers tricky questions
QLD News
Former Miss World Australia Courtney Thorpe’s mum in cancer battle
VICKI Thorpe has special reason to celebrate this Mother’s Day.
The mother of former Miss World Australia Courtney Thorpe last week finished seven months’ treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer last October.
Vicki said that it felt “surreal” when she was told doctors had found an almost 4cm cancerous tumour in her right breast, admitting she had put off getting the lump checked for months.
“You don’t think it’s going to happen to you, so it did take time to sink in that it was actually me that they were talking about... you tend to almost distant yourself and you can’t come to terms with it,” she said.
“I had a false sense of security because I’d had history of cysts and I thought if it hurts, it’s not cancer.”
Model daughter Courtney said her world “came crashing down” when her mum told her and 23-year-old brother Stuart the news.
“I was that confident it was nothing that I even forgot she had the appointment,” Courtney said.
“When she got home, I just had this horrible gut-wrenching feeling.
“There’s a moment I will never, ever forget sitting in the car with her at one of her first appointments and it literally felt like there was this extra, unwanted and nasty person there.
“I wanted to leave, I just wanted this gone.”
Vicki had her right breast removed and was “gratified” to hear just one of 21 nearby lymph nodes showed signs of being affected and her full-body scans were clear.
Months of chemotherapy and drug treatments followed, and although Vicki said she felt lucky not to experience nausea, exhaustion, hair loss and side effects including peripheral neuropathy, she was hit by numbness in her toes.
Courtney was in the US mentoring current Miss World Australia and fellow Queenslander Madeline Cowe at the pageant finals when a phonecall from Vicki saw her on the next plane home.
“I could hear in her voice she was scared so I cut my trip short and spent all of Christmas Day on a plane just to get back and I couldn’t have cared less about missing Christmas because I was coming home to my mum,” she said.
“Losing her hair was a big moment because before I knew she was sick but I couldn’t see it and all of a sudden I could see cancer.”
Despite the effects of her treatment, Vicki continued to work fulltime lecturing at the Australian Catholic University.
“I didn’t know I could think any more of my mum because she was already the strongest woman I’ve ever known and the biggest inspiration but I was literally in awe of her and how she handled it,” Courtney said.
Tomorrow will hold some big Mother’s Day surprises for Vicki as she awaits her next scans.
“There isn’t much good that comes out of cancer but the silver lining is — we love our mum every day — but it just reiterates how much and to show that appreciation,” Courney said.
“We’re really hopeful and mums looking well. This is a reminder that mum’s need to look after themselves too - if you have a lump, get it checked.”
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