Kerri-Anne Kennerley: "My Cancer Battle"

Photo credit: Hugh Stewart

She’s overcome breast cancer, but for TV legend Kerri-Anne Kennerley, her journey with the disease is just getting started. Her new focus? Lobbying to extend rebates for life-saving breast MRI scans to cancer patients.

“My whole world was turned upside down last year when I was diagnosed with cancer,” she says. “It sounds cliché, but although Australian women have a one in eight risk of developing breast cancer, never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen to me. I have no family history of it and had mammograms regularly, so it came as such a shock.”

For Kennerley, an MRI scan on the morning of her surgery had a big impact on her treatment – and inspired her crusade to make MRIs more affordable for other women. “They discovered a second tumour which didn’t show up on the mammogram,” she reflects, adding that the MRI helped her surgeon pinpoint exactly what needed removing, so she didn’t have to lose her breast. “In the Australian healthcare system, there isn’t any question that we should have free if not rebatable MRIs,” she says.

Watch the behind the scenes video of Prevention cover shoot

Currently, Medicare rebates for breast MRI scans are only available to women under 50, with no signs or symptoms of breast cancer, but who are at high risk of breast cancer due to family history or genetic mutation. Anyone else needing an MRI will be out of pocket by around $700 – a prohibitive expense for many.

The good news? The Medical Services Advisory Committee is currently reviewing extending rebates to women who require MRIs as a pre-surgical diagnostic tool – so they can benefit like Kennerley did. And considering 37 Australian women are diagnosed with breast cancer daily, and 2700 are expected to lose their lives to the condition this year, funding is clearly vital.

For Kennerley, staying positive made her breast cancer journey more bearable. “I didn’t allow myself to think about the negatives. Maintaining a positive attitude was crucial to my health: it’s always been my approach to life and I wasn’t about to change it,” she says.

“Since my diagnosis and treatment, most things in my life have remained the same. I eat healthy breakfasts and have also cut down on pasta and bread. My treatments are done and dusted, I feel fantastic and I’ll keep speaking out for breast cancer awareness, prevention and cures every chance I get.”

While MRI rebates for women with breast cancer are still under review, other women can protect their breast health in two simple steps. “Check your breasts regularly for any changes and stay up-to-date with mammograms,” urges Kennerley.

Read the full story on Kerri-Anne Kennerley in Prevention magazine’s April issue. On sale now.

RELATED:

Deborah Hutton: "My Battle with Skin Cancer"
10 Fast Facts on Skin Cancer
The Anti-Cancer Diet