Meet Jane Beith

This is Jane Beith. I first met her 11 years ago when she came to chat with me when I was in hospital recovering from a mastectomy. She sat beside my bed and made me laugh, not an easy task when the jovial conversation is being punctuated with the names of chemotherapy drugs. Jane Beith was, and remains, my oncologist. She is (as we say in Australia) a bloody legend and Rob and I think the world of her. I have no doubt that Jane Beith is the reason I am the fit (despite having the running stance of a retiree) and healthy (despite particular fondness for white wine and Maynards wine gums) person I am today. Yesterday I met with Jane Beith for my 11th (count 'em) annual appointment and once again we embraced each other like old friends and remarked on how far we have both come. I realise that in all the years Jane has been in our lives, no one else has ever seen her, so here she is. She usually looks like this, all smiley and happy despite her grim occupation. She's about to take a couple of well-deserved months off away as she works 6 days a week in two hospitals, including the RPA's Sydney Cancer Centre, which is where we met. Jane told me she is now 48 and asked me if it freaked me out that I was treated by a 37-year-old back in 1998. I said it didn't. But then she said " I would have given you a good standard of care, but I'm a better doctor now." She's always been open and honest like this about my treatment and gives great advice. Like I said, she's a bloody legend.