During a holiday to Norfolk Island, Raylee realised some time had passed since her last check-up.
She decided right then that as soon as she returned home she would get it done.
Staying true to her promise, she had it done but then came the call-back.
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READ NOW‘Getting the call-back I knew then, I just knew I had it. I had to have further testing which was painful,’ she said.
‘I had to have a core biopsy procedure, an ultrasound and another mammogram.’
Raylee was diagnosed on Friday June 7. By Monday calls were made to the surgeon and by Wednesday she had surgery.
‘Just because you are 70 doesn’t make you safe,’ she said.
She said so many afflicted with the disease are young.
‘It’s striking, they are just kids, usually trying to raise their own kids at the same time,’ she said.
‘I think that’s why many people in my age group think it won’t happen to them.’
‘Talking to a friend the other day she said she had never thought about getting tested and others couldn’t be bothered.’
‘My main message is if it can happen at any age, no age group is safe.’
Raylee said she was lucky, having been a nurse so she knew what to expect.
‘It didn’t bother me what would happen with treatments, I understood all that, I accepted it and thought bring it on,’ she said.
‘I also had the support of family and friends.’
‘I look at all these nuclear families, they have very little family support.’
Raylee is part of the Mandurah Angels who give support to victims of breast cancer and their families.