Three and a half years ago the worst thing so far in my life happened to me - I was diagnosed with cancer. It all happened so quickly - I found a lump in my breast and got anxious about it. The next day I was at my doctors and right after the examination he told me to prepare for a hard road ahead. Single and in my mid to late 40s, he told me to visit my parents on the way home instead of going back to work. He had already reached out for a specialist referral for the next day. The following week was full of tests and biopsies, negative results that my specialist / surgeon did not believe and then the confirmation that yes it was cancer. (Funny how in other situations positive is good and negative is bad!)
My cancer journey was underway but out of the worst thing in my life came the best things that you could ever hope for. The most amazing family and friends to look out for and after me, the most understanding employer to support me and the most talented medical team to get me well and help me beat this disease. Part of this incredible team was BraveDay.
As a friend of mine, I rang Tania to tell her the news. Lucky for me Tania, Dean and the BraveDay team are also my personal insurance brokers. Although I work for a great company that looks after their staff, I was relieved to have both the trauma and income protection policies that Dean had recommended. Knowing that the insurance was there if needed was a big weight off my mind. I was very fortunate (or perhaps insert here "determined", "independent" or just plain "mad") that, apart from post-surgical recovery, I was able to work most days right through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. In saying that though, facing your own mortality makes you reassess what is really important in life and think about changes that you need to make going forward. For me it was recognising that I needed a greater work / life balance. Whilst I am thankful that I did not need to call on my income protection policy, my trauma policy pay-out helped me to accomplish a rather large goal. Just after my first chemotherapy treatment I purchased a house down in Ohakune with my brother to enjoy both the winter and summer sports that the beautiful Tongariro National Park and surrounding area offers.
However, the fantastic service from BraveDay did not end there. Several months later Tania rang me to explain that, despite not claiming on my income protection policy, they had done some research and discovered that I was eligible for a one-off lump sum payment that did not impact the future life of my policy.
You never can tell what is just around the corner but it certainly helps with the best team of people having your back. I am glad that BraveDay was, and still is, part of my team!