As an oncology nurse herself Julianna Potts knows better than most how cancer care should be delivered and how patients should be cared for.
Following six months of treatment for triple negative breast cancer at the PA Hospital, she was full of praise for the level of care she received and professionalism she witnessed.
Julianna was diagnosed with Stage 2A in July of 2024, the same month she turned 32, after finding a lump in her breast. Though their treatment journeys have been different, Julianna’s mother was also diagnosed with stage 1A triple negative breast cancer just a month later.
“I found a lump and with my background, I was more lenient to think that it was like a fraud adenoma or a cyst because of where it was in the breast and how it felt,” she said.
“It felt smooth, round and pliable and they’re all the things that would indicate that it's actually not cancer and then, to be honest, I’d ask my colleagues at work, ‘oh my god can you feel this, what do you think that is’?
“It grew very fast in size within five weeks to at least like four centimeters. I went to my GP originally and she agreed that it was smooth, round, and pliable and also didn't think that it was breast cancer and to wait for my next period to see if it changed. So that's what I did.
“It was still smooth, round, and pliable but it had grown. I went back to see a different GP, due to mine being on holiday and she sent me for an urgent ultrasound. From there I went to Sunnybank Women's Center. They were incredible. Within an hour and a half, I had an ultrasound mammogram, and I had two biopsies.”
Following an adverse reaction to immunotherapy, pembrolizumab, Julianna was treated with intravenous steroids, followed by chemotherapy which finished in December. Her next steps will be a lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment at the PA this year.
“I work at the Queensland Children's Hospital with kids with cancer, so my nursing degree has been worth its weight in gold but sometimes knowing too much keeps me constantly thinking,” she explained.
“I've been very impressed with the consistent high level of hygiene, wound care, and patient identification at the PA, the PA has been very good."
“I found their bedside manner has been always very warming and compassionate. Especially as a young woman. There are not too many people my age in the breast care area. Most women are around 40-50 years plus.
“It was good to have just a variety of different team members who remember your name, who you are and where you're up to with your treatment and specific things to you. I found that very good.”
Julianna also speaks highly of PA Hospital breast cancer nurse navigator Emma Mckillen and her oncologist Dr Vladimir Andelkovic. As well as the Breast Care Nurse Juanita Ryan.
“They both have been just fantastic,” she said.
“I'm very much a black and white person. He's just been very thorough and up front with what I've needed to have done and about my treatment pathway.
“I probably presented him, throughout the last six months, questions and queries and concerns and things that most patients wouldn’t, and he always knew the answer and if he didn’t, he would find out and get back to me straight away.”
With her cancer treatment progressing well and pleased with the standard of care she receives at the PA; Julianna is reflective and appreciative of others that have been diagnosed in the past and the researchers and healthcare staff who have been integral to advances in breast cancer treatments.
“I'm feeling very grateful for it all. I'm very thankful for women who have gone through it before,” she said.
“People who haven't survived breast cancer and they've done trials and put themselves on the line for people in the future to benefit.
“You honestly can't thank these people enough.”
