29/10/2026
At Cura Aged Care, we honour the strength and stories of our people. Clinical Care Partner – Enrolled Nurse Jen Barber and Home Care Worker Marija Dacijar, breast cancer survivors, and Home Care Worker Tina Allen, whose father bravely faced male breast cancer, remind us that breast cancer awareness matters for everyone.
To honour these brave stories, our team came together for a Breast Cancer Awareness Breakfast to raise awareness, support Breast Care Nurses through donations, and share a meaningful morning together.
During the breakfast, Jen courageously shared her personal breast cancer journey. While fit, healthy and training for a charity run, she noticed a small change in her breast and felt that something wasn’t right. Trusting her instincts led to further testing and, ultimately, a breast cancer diagnosis.
What followed was an incredibly challenging journey involving surgery, chemotherapy, targeted treatment and extensive radiation therapy. Years later, Jen also underwent reconstructive surgery and after nine major operations, Jen jokes that she is "one of the few people in the world who can walk into a room both backwards and forwards at the same time," referring to the complex reconstruction involving tissue from her back.
Despite everything she experienced, Jen shared her story with the warmth, humour and resilience our team knows her for. Her journey also inspired her to become a nurse after experiencing firsthand the difference compassionate care can make. Today, those experiences help her relate to and support clients navigating illness, changes in independence and the challenge of asking for help.
Throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we also turned our Wellness Centre pink in recognition of everyone affected by breast cancer. 🌸
Thank you, Jen, for your courage, honesty, and humour, and for reminding us of the importance of early detection, trusting our instincts, and supporting one another through life's challenges.
💗 Early detection saves lives. 💗
