"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!!"