Ros began her healthcare career as a nurse, training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital 50 years ago and spent the last few years of her career working as a pathology collector before retiring at Christmas last year.

Ros was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. She was called back for further examination after an abnormal breast screen and then underwent a fine needle aspiration biopsy and a lumpectomy. This confirmed she had breast cancer that was spreading to her lymph nodes.

Doctors treated Ros using chemotherapy and radiation therapy during which pathology was vital to guide treatment.

Blood tests every three weeks tracked her health during chemotherapy as drug doses must be carefully monitored for side effects.

“Pathology was fantastic” said Ros. “Without it, the doctors would be pouring quite toxic drugs into me without knowing what was going on!”

Although now in remission for her breast cancer, she was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) about a year ago.

A blood test showed abnormal red and white blood cell counts. Further blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy confirmed that Ros had CLL. Luckily the disease was caught in its infancy. She has no symptoms and at the moment she does not require treatment.

Doctors use the results of frequent blood tests and annual bone marrow biopsies to monitor her and assess disease progression.

“Throughout the last five years pathology has been a big part of my life, with regular blood tests as well as the bone marrow biopsy and lymph node biopsy I’ve been no stranger to the pathology team!”

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Melbourne based nurse Cass Kern appreciates the hard work that goes on in the lab; “Pathology teams work hard behind the scenes processing and reporting on tests, to make sure results are available to the right person at the right time. For me, on a busy shift, the pathology laboratory can be a place where samples are sent and results magically appear!”

Dietitian and Diabetes Educator, Jodie Kennett says pathology is vital for her patients:

“I work with some overweight patients which can be due to lack of mobility or inability to prepare nutritious foods. This is especially so in the elderly, where they are quite malnourished leading to poor healing, muscle wastage, pressure sores and ill health. I can think of a few cases where poor nutritional status, low albumin and Total Protein levels were addressed – their health and wounds improved and so did their quality of life. In these cases, pathology results were invaluable.”

Melbourne General Practitioner Malcolm Mckenzie says testing is central to his investigations and diagnosis for patients:

“Being able to do pathology tests helps us confirm what we think is wrong with our patients, and treat them appropriately and safely. Without pathology tests, we would be guessing.”

He says there are benefits of building patient health literacy around their tests:

“Patients who understand what the tests are for, and what the results mean are more likely to be invested in their care and take responsibility, generally speaking. This knowledge would also help to reduce unnecessary tests.”

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