At Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women to promote a campaign by the Women’s Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, Mrs [Janette Howard] said her illness, “just after John became Prime Minister”, had been “quite a challenging time”.

Mrs Howard told Narelle Feeney, 32, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year when her son Zachary was three weeks old, that the diagnosis “must be very confronting”.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone attended a function at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Labor health spokeswoman Julia Gillard was at the Royal Brisbane, Democrats leader Lynn Allison appeared at the Royal Women’s in Melbourne and Susie Annus, wife of Labor leader Kim Beazley, appeared at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth.

IN a rare display of public candour, Janette Howard has spoken openly to cancer patients about her own battle with the disease.

At Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women to promote a campaign by the Women’s Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, Mrs Howard said her illness, “just after John became Prime Minister”, had been “quite a challenging time”.

She said her diagnosis of breast cancer had forced her to re- evaluate her own life and made her realise that women too often put the welfare of their husbands and children before their own.

“My cancer wasn’t ovarian,” she told the women. “But it comes as a shock to you. Women go to the doctor more often than men, but I think women often postpone their own needs … `when my children get through this, when my husband is through that’. I think that is a big issue for women. You put yourself at thebottom of the list.

“I look back at my life and think, `I should have thought that might be important and gone to the doctor’ and you don’t. If you are ignoring symptoms, you are not really helping your family. It is a hard lesson to learn.”

Mrs Howard told Narelle Feeney, 32, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year when her son Zachary was three weeks old, that the diagnosis “must be very confronting”.

She even had a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye when one of the women sought her thoughts on being a grandmother. She said it was unfortunate her own children hadn’t yet reached that stage in life.

“I am still waiting … If they put that on TV my daughter will just kill me,” she said. “It is their lives and when they decide to do things.

“But Melanie will kill me because she is the only one that is married. My sons (Tim and Richard) are not at that stage yet. You wish for them to be happy and married and have family and it is very nice when it happens.”

Mrs Howard’s appearance was part of a rare show of bipartisan support from women politicians or female partners of male politicians across the country.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone attended a function at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Labor health spokeswoman Julia Gillard was at the Royal Brisbane, Democrats leader Lynn Allison appeared at the Royal Women’s in Melbourne and Susie Annus, wife of Labor leader Kim Beazley, appeared at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth.

The events came ahead of public hearings next week by a Senate inquiry into gynaecological cancers.

About 70 per cent of those diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from the disease. There is no screening test for early detection and, with only initially vague symptoms such as abdominal pain, it is often misdiagnosed.

www.womenscancer foundation.org