A grandmother of ten is grateful to be alive after surviving cancer five times and being hailed by doctors as a “medical miracle”.
It’s been more than three decades since Gayle Dean, now 72, was shopping with a friend in Dee Why, on Sydney’s northern beaches, in 1991 when they walked through the Pasta medical center advertising free mammograms.
The then 38-year-old woman and her friend had never heard of them before and thought “it might be fun.”
Instead, the single mother of three discovered she had a four-centimeter malignant tumor in her left breast, beginning her decades-long battle with cancer.
Dean recalled being in “total shock” as he had not experienced any symptoms.
Gayle Dean, 72 (pictured in hospital) began her battle with cancer at the age of 38, when she and a friend decided to get a mammogram for “fun.”
‘I was 38 years old and I felt good. I have never had a major medical problem of any kind and yet it was there. But that’s the nature of cancer. It’s insidious,” he told news.com.au.
As a single mother, Dean thought about her children and saw them as her main motivation for living.
A week later, she was scheduled for a mastectomy to remove her left breast.
The mother said it was during this time that she prayed to God, asking Him to let her live because “no one can raise them as well as I can.”
After surgery, Dean underwent six months of “very intense” chemotherapy that left her hairless.
Even though she was cancer-free, she still wondered if she was a “ticking time bomb” and continued to get mammograms.
Five years later, in 1996, Ms. Dean was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, this time in her right breast.
She was admitted to the hospital after a week to have her cancerous breast removed.
Mrs Dean then went into “fight mode” and always saw cancer as “an enemy that must be defeated”.
More chemotherapy ‘ruined his system’ and took its toll on his body.
She experienced vaginal bleeding in 1999 and, after a visit to the gynecologist, was told that the lining of her uterus “is full of cancer.”
After undergoing a hysterectomy to remove her uterine cancer, Dean said she felt like everything was being “stripped” from her body.
The former teacher spent the next 16 years cancer-free, which included marrying her husband, celebrating the arrival of her grandchildren, and traveling the world.
She continued with her regular checkups, where she became accustomed to hearing words like “remission” and “you’re cured.”
In 2015 he underwent a routine colonoscopy, despite “feeling well” and having no symptoms.
Mrs Dean (right) and her husband, Peter (left), celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2023.
Doctors found a pelvic tumor the size of a tennis ball.
Dean went through radiotherapy and chemotherapy at the same time, which he described as the “worst nine weeks” of his life.
The treatment managed to kill the cancer, but damaged his organs, in addition to the need for a colostomy bag.
The 10-year-old grandmother was admitted to the hospital last year for an intestinal blockage with her colostomy bag.
But the doctors discovered something else.
He had cancer in his left kidney and it had to be removed.
The 72-year-old is hopeful the cancer will not return after having many organs removed, including her breasts, as well as 26 lymph nodes, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, gallbladder and kidney. left.
The mother said doctors described her as a “medical miracle” and that she is “grateful” to have survived.
“Numerous doctors have told me that they don’t know anyone who has had five different types of very serious cancers and survived them,” he said.
In 2017, Dean tested positive for the BRCA gene mutation, which explained her first two breast cancers.
The mother agreed to become a subject of cancer research, hoping to help others as researchers will look for genetic flaws and undiscovered genes.
Dean said her faith, family and positive mindset helped her in her battle with cancer.
The grandmother, who also speaks publicly and works as a funeral celebrant, says her whole life revolves around gratitude.
She also wants people fighting cancer to know that it’s okay to be angry and that you don’t have to be strong or independent and accept help.
Grandmother of ten Gayle Dean (pictured) is hoping she does not receive a sixth cancer diagnosis.