Miranda
"I was diagnosed with breast cancer two days before Christmas.
Obviously this was devastating news, after finding a lump in my
breast after a mammogram only 5 months before! To make matters
worse, the earliest I could have the operation was 4 weeks later,
as the breast surgeons were going to be away, and the surgical
centre was to close down over this period. My husband and I
left the surgery in a bit of a dazed state, had a little cry in the
car, and then drove home to tell our adult children. They
were all going in different directions immediately after Christmas,
so this seemed to be the only suitable time to tell them.
The next four weeks went by in a bit of a blur. We went
away as usual but decided not to tell our friends until near the
end of the holiday. This at least gave us the chance to try
and forget things for a while and avoid the sympathetic comments
and looks!
While we were away we remembered that we had just recently taken
out trauma insurance and was wondering if we were applicable to
claim for this. On my return to work I contacted Dean,
who was very sympathetic on the phone. We immediately made an
appointment to see him to discuss things. A couple of days
later at our meeting, Dean advised us that it looked like we could
have a claim and he filled out as much as he could then and
there. He then took what he needed away to send to my breast
specialist and doctor for completion. It was such a relief
that we did not have to do any of this paperwork ourselves.
In late January I had my operation and all went well.
Fortunately my cancer was diagnosed early and the tests of the
tumour, following the operation, proved that I only needed to have
radiotherapy. I was so relieved that I did not need to have
chemotherapy. During this time Dean and Tania kept in touch
with us, also sending us a lovely bouquet of flowers, which was a
nice surprise.
Tania phoned me a couple of weeks after my surgery to advise
that our claim had been approved and that the money would be in our
account shortly. That was such wonderful news and such a
relief.
Having this money gave me the freedom to decide that while I was
having my radiotherapy I would take time off work to just look
after myself, without the pressure of work. My employers were
also very supportive, which was great. It also took the
pressure off financially because even though we have medical
insurance, we were only 80% covered.
It was the best decision we ever made replacing our life
insurance policy with trauma insurance and the care and attention
we received from Dean and Tania was superb!!"