Colleen's goin' strong

Not sure what to do or expect when you or someone you know has cancer?

Colleen Lavelle, a Wakka Wakka woman living in Brisbane, found out she had an inoperable brain tumour in 2010.  

As a mother of four, she took the news in her stride, seeing it as just another hurdle in life.  

She's overcome many hurdles since then and has elected to share her story through her own blog which you can read here.   

Also, in this edition of Stayin' Strong, Colleen shares some advice for families which you can listen to here.

Caption:  Colleen with NFL player Jesse Williams at the annual Indigenous Walking the Talk Cancer Day at Musgarve Park, West End.  Image supplied by C Lavelle.  

No-one. Knows. Your. Body. Like. You. Do.

That's the key message behind a campaign to raise awareness about ovarian cancer.

Professor Helen Zorbas, the chief executive officer of Cancer Australia, says many women aren't aware of the signs of ovarian cancer.  Listen here for more.  

Image:  Cancer Australia's Teal Ribbon Day poster 

Read more about Teal Ribbon Day here and about the signs of ovarian cancer here.

Typically sore throats get better on their own, but if you have school-age children it's a good idea to get it checked out. This is epsecially true for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.  

Listen here to this message about the link between a sore throat and rheumatic fever.  

More info

For more information about rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease click here.

Image courtesy of stockdevil at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Stayin' Strong project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

Read more here.