How do you tell your three young children that you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer?
How do you prepare them for the pain and suffering you will endure during five and a half months of chemo and seven weeks of radium?
For North Star mother, Pamela Schramm, that situation led to the launch of her children’s book ‘My Strong Mummy’ to guide others facing the same dilemma with positivity and hope.
Pamela will address 600 women at the 2016 Weengallon Racing Pink Ladies Day on Wednesday.
She will tell the audience that, at the time of her diagnosis in April 2015, she was 40 years old, and her boys James and Harry were six and four and daughter Ivy was just eight months old.
For Pamela and her husband Peter, telling the children raised huge issues as they’d lost Peter’s mother Janet to metastatic melanoma the year before.
“We didn’t say I had cancer straight out because they’d just lost their Grandmother to cancer and at the time we hadn’t explained there were different cancers. We were worried they would think I was going to die too,” she said.
In hospital Pamela's breast care nurse gave her a little brochure on how to explain your cancer treatment to your children.
“The brochure was black and white and morbid. Saying ‘I hope to be there when you finish school,’ ‘I hope to see you get married’. It was all very negative,” she said.
“I cried in hospital all night after reading it, thinking how can I read that to the kids.”
Pamela began writing her own story for her children and her mother, Joy Dill began, illustrated the story. ‘My Strong Mummy’ was launched in March this year.
The books are selling for $15 with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Network Australia and $1000 to Mummy's Wish Foundation.
For Pamela’s full story please see Thursday’s print edition of Queensland Country Life and stay tuned to queenslandcountrylife.com.au for a full gallery from Wednesday event.
