In April, Fairfield resident and breast cancer survivor Susanne Volkers was diagnosed with a brain tumour and was told she would have to undergo radiation treatment as her prognosis looked bleak.
However, despite the odds, she is still here and is looking forward to seeing 2ha of sunflowers, that her husband planted in her honour, bloom in late January.
Mrs Volkers had no memory of the months between April and September, until her oncologist called her and said they found a diagnosis for the tumour, but she only had three to six weeks left.
"I was really annoyed because I just bought an annual ticket for the salt water swimming pool ... at that stage I wasn’t making much sense."
Mrs Volkers did end up going swimming the very next day, and for three months after that.
At the end of her expected life span, she walked up to her oncologist’s office and watched him go as "pale as a sheet".
"He was just standing there. He told me ‘you should be dead’ — but yeah, I’m not."
Her appointment on December 12 was met with just as much shock from her oncologist, and her next appointment is booked for January 16.
"I know something is wrong, I can feel it, but I can talk better, I look more tidy ... but I’m not cured," she said.
Mrs Volkers has type 1 diabetes and had lost 30kg since she started to get sick, but a terminal diagnosis meant it was time to enjoy life.
"My GP told me to not change anything, but I thought since I’m only living three weeks, so who gives a sh..? So I bought [lollies] and my friends bought me cakes — OK, my diabetes isn’t looking good, but I’m feeling great, and so my GP told me to keep going."
Just before her diagnosis, husband Peter Volkers was toying with the idea of planting sunflowers on some land at his Millers Flat property for travellers to enjoy as they drove past.
After his wife’s diagnosis, he decided to switch gears and turn it into a fundraiser for the Cancer Society.
"People don’t realise how much support there is through the Cancer Society, until you have cancer, or know someone with cancer," he said.
Mr Volkers did not expect his wife to see his sunflowers bloom, to spend another Christmas together, or to celebrate her 57th birthday yesterday.
The couple plan to open the sunflower field once the flowers bloom in late January and will be accepting donations for the Cancer Society.
There were about 120,000 sunflowers planted, and picking a flower will cost a $2 donation.
Their fundraising goal was $5000, and after one day they had already met half their goal.
