When Tina O’Connor went to the doctor for a routine health check before starting a family, she never imagined the devastating diagnosis that would follow.
Tina, from Ireland, came to Australia at the age of 27 as a backpacker and has spent the last two decades making a living in Sydney.
At 41, she was ready to have a baby, so she scheduled a visit to her primary care doctor in 2021 to monitor her fertility and overall health.
“The GP suggested an optional health screening due to my age – it wouldn’t have been necessary if I was 25,” Tina told FEMAIL.
“He said there was probably nothing wrong, but he wanted to be sure.”
Tina almost didn’t perform the procedure because it wasn’t routine.
“I remember the clinic calling me to request payment details and asking if it was necessary,” he said.
“I’m glad I did it, because the results revealed that I had endometrial cancer.”
Endometrial cancer is the most common uterine cancer and is caused by the “uncontrolled” growth of endometrial cells.
It accounts for between 90 and 95 per cent of uterine cancer diagnoses, of which there were 667 deaths in 2022. It is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia in women.
Tina O’Connor is originally from Ireland but now lives in Sydney.
Tina received a phone call from the clinic two days after the test and a shaky voice asked her to come see the results.
Alarm bells immediately started ringing in Tina’s head and she feared the worst.
Tina has a family history of cancer and lost her father and a sister to the disease.
‘My sister passed away suddenly from breast cancer the year before, which increased my stress and anxiety. “I just thought: this can’t happen again,” he said.
‘The energy in the room was very strange when I walked in.
‘My doctor was restless and couldn’t make eye contact with me. That’s when I knew something was wrong.
Tina wanted to rip off the band-aid and asked the doctor to tell her what had happened.
“We found some cancer,” he said.
“We recommend that we adjust course immediately… a complete radical hysterectomy is necessary.”
The news was devastating. All Tina wanted was a baby and she felt like this would take away that opportunity.
“I had absolutely no symptoms, there was nothing suspicious or abnormal about my health,” Tina said.
“There’s no pain or discomfort or anything.”
Tina spent the next few weeks not knowing what stage her cancer was or what her prognosis would be.
“We were going into another lockdown and I had no family in Sydney,” he shared. “It was just me living alone with my French bulldog.”
Tina’s mother wanted to fly from Ireland and be with her daughter, but COVID restrictions at the time meant she couldn’t enter.
Tina has a family history of cancer and lost her father and brother to the disease.
“I felt trapped in Australia, my mother was trapped in Ireland and had just lost one of her children the year before – it was very traumatic,” Tina said.
He met up with friends in his “bubble” every day and went for walks in a bid to get emotional support.
‘It was difficult because I didn’t know if the cancer was going to be treatable. “The doctors just told me I was going to need a hysterectomy, but I didn’t know if I was going to die,” she continued.
Luckily, the cancer was in stage one. Doctors were able to detect it in time thanks to the fertility test.
“The doctors told me it was a miracle to discover it when I had no symptoms or pain,” he said.
‘I went through the egg retrieval process because they were going to remove everything: my uterus, ovaries, cervix and fallopian tubes.
‘It was difficult to assimilate because my plans to be a mother immediately evaporated. They told me I shouldn’t think about having a child; I needed to focus all my energy on trying to survive.’
Tina underwent eye surgery and was then prescribed six weeks of bed rest, but the determined businessman couldn’t commit to that much time off.
“I’m an independent real estate agent and I remember the day after surgery I was almost back to normal,” she said.
‘I still had to work to keep the business afloat. The phone calls kept coming.
Tina had eye surgery and was put on bed rest for six weeks afterwards
Tina relied on the emotional support of her loved ones during her health journey.
The real estate agent sold properties worth $90 million in 2021
Tina did not need chemotherapy or radiation because, fortunately, the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes.
“They used to be more frequent, but now I still get checkups every six months,” Tina said.
However, having cancer brought her a surprising advantage: Tina had the best year of her career and sold properties worth $90 million in 2021.
“I was in fight or flight mode the whole time,” he said.
‘My idea of achievement has changed over the years and although I have never been money driven, I love achieving success and being proud of the career I have built.
‘It doesn’t seem long ago that I was a backpacker answering an advert for a ‘part-time’ estate agent in the Inner West, and soon realized there was no such thing.
“This job is not a 9 to 5 or part-time job, it is an all-consuming lifestyle commitment that I thrive on.”
Tina used her job as an outlet to get through the tumultuous time in her personal life.
‘Somehow I always have so much energy for my work, and it’s hard to find.
“I’m grateful I had it as a distraction when I had cancer because if I didn’t like my job, it would have been unbearable.”
Tina doesn’t spend much time reflecting on that part of her life, but she believes that everything happens for a reason.
“I went to the doctor because I wanted to have children, but they took that option away from me,” she said.
The health scare has also made him rethink several aspects of how he spends his days.
“I strive to stay as fit and healthy as possible,” he said.
‘Each week I have a schedule of incline walking, weight training, yoga, sauna and cold plunges.
“I gave up alcohol in July 2020, which has been one of the best decisions of my life.”
“I believe your life is made up of small habits, so I try to improve in small ways every day,” he said.
“Having cancer during the COVID lockdowns was a dark time, but I got through it and now feel like I can get through anything.”