BROKEN Hill parent Chrissy Slattery has had a challenging year to say the least, standing alongside her son Adam as he battled cancer, and now raising money for her good friend Jonnah Ortega, who was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer just six weeks ago.
The Slattery family know all too well how challenging facing cancer can be, with the added stress of living remotely not only taking an emotional toll but a hefty financial one.
As for many medical treatments, cancer diagnosis and some treatment must be performed in Adelaide, a 10-hour return trip from Broken Hill.
“They raced him to Adelaide and started his treatment pretty quickly, we were lucky to have a great team down there,” Ms Slattery said.
“But because it was a blood cancer we couldn’t leave Adelaide at all, we left just after 11 months.
“I think we’d been back four or five times during that 11 months, which was quite hard because I’m a mum of five and my husband was travelling every couple of days to and from Adelaide.
The family also runs the Silver City Cafe on Argent Street.
“My sister had to run my cafe for me for 11 months,” Ms Slattery said.
“It’s been pretty full on.”
The financial stress has been immense for the family with time off work, accommodation, petrol, parking, all adding up.
“The little things just add up, this is why we’re doing it for Jonnah, because I know how hard it’s been for the last 12 months,” she said.
“All my family, friends and the Broken Hill community got behind Adam those 11 months that we were in Adelaide.
“I just want to give back what the community did for us.
“It’s just so hard for Broken Hill people when they get sick, especially with families”.
To raise money for Ms Ortega, the Slattery family has been collecting donations at their Christmas-decorated house through gold coin donation tins and selling waffles and milkshakes.
The weekend of the pageant the Slattery family home was open for business Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the community appreciating the family’s spectacular display.
“The community just loves it. They all make sure I do it every year and carry on if I don’t,” she said.
Ms Ortega said she can’t say how grateful and thankful she is to have the Slattery family’s support.
“My connection and relationship with Chrissy and the Slattery family extends all the way back from when we were at school,” she said.
“They used to live in Piper Street, I used to live in Hebard Street, and we all went to school together.
“We’ve always remained very, very close friends.
“They are very close friends of ours, so when Adam got sick last year it was devastating for everyone, and I guess now it’s my turn.”
Ms Ortega said the work Ms Slattery is doing, despite her ongoing family issues herself, is humbling.
“The fact that Chrissy’s doing this for me is just so incredibly humbling, and I’m so filled with gratitude,” she said.
“Knowing the struggles that her family are continuing to go through really is quite overwhelming.
“In fact, the whole community really has been right behind me, which has been so humbling.”
As Ms Slattery knows too well, the costs associated with the extensive travel Broken Hill families struggling with cancer face, can be crippling.
“In terms of my journey, it’s all still new for me. In October, I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer,” Ms Ortega said.
“We were in Adelaide for almost two months having treatments and getting worked up, which is all the stuff that they do pre-chemo.
At the moment we’re lucky because I can have my chemo in Broken Hill.”
“It’s a long journey; I hate the word journey by the way. But I suppose there’s no real better description than a journey, isn’t there?”
Ms Ortega’s daughter has a rare medical condition herself, meaning the family is used to travelling to Adelaide for medical care.
“The travelling we’re used to, but not for a health problem with me,” Ms Ortega said.
“That has been really challenging because I’m normally the one doing the caring and organising and all that kind of stuff.
“This time around all that’s been taken away.
“But knowing that I have my community, and people like Chrissy that do such extraordinary acts of kindness, I take a lot of strength from in my hard times.”
The sickness has put a large financial strain on the family, with Ms Ortega’s husband giving up his full-time role in the mines to care for her and their daughter, while taking on reduced hours in her role.
Ms Ortega said she would use the funds raised by Ms Slattery for her next lot of Adelaide trips.
“It will definitely go towards the next few trips to Adelaide because it will be a longer stay for us”, she said.
