By CATHERINE WATSON
WATCHING Veronica Matajevac’s sparkling eyes and hearing her ready laugh, you would think she was in the peak of health.
Yet she has lived with metastasised bone cancer for three years — statistically speaking, she should be dead.
“I don’t want to wait for death in a corner — I want death to chase me,” the Narre Warren resident told the Weekly.
It’s that attitude she wants to bring to a support group for women with cancer she has started because she could find nothing on this side of the city to suit her own needs.
The group will be a place for women to express their fears — the ones they can’t talk about even with their families — but also a place to laugh, to make friends and to plan ahead.
Ms Matajevac said her mantra was “Do not suffer in silence”. The group is open to everyone but is particularly targeted at women from a non-English-speaking background who might not feel comfortable in an Anglo group.
“I believe these are the ones who are suffering in silence.”
Since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, Ms Matajevac has endured multiple regimes of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
After two years of remission, her worst moment came in 2010 when she learned the cancer had metastasised to her bones.
“Of course, I panicked. So I planned a trip to China. When I got back, my cancer count had gone down. My oncologist couldn’t understand it.”
And therein lies a secret, she believes. “You need a reason to get up in the morning. There is a great power in that.”
Of course, Ms Matajevac has her down times, too, but she gets out of them as soon as possible because she believes they are dangerous. “I’m not the first or the last to face this challenge. How you face it is your choice.”
She says if nothing else, women will find a friend and gain strength from being with others facing the same challenge.
The Living with Cancer group meets at Wellsprings for Women, 79 Langhorne Street, Dandenong, from 9.30-11am on Mondays. Details: Veronica Matajevac on 0403 146 521.
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