Rebuilt - After Her

Rebuilt - After Her Real life after cancer 💚
Honest, messy, in-between
Motherhood • treatment • finding yourself again
A space for women navigating life through cancer and beyond

These are some of the comments on my post this week.Shame. Exaggerated. Unnecessary. Intimate. Put your top on.And I jus...
10/06/2026

These are some of the comments on my post this week.
Shame. Exaggerated. Unnecessary. Intimate. Put your top on.

And I just want to sit with that for a second

I actually thought my own body looked gross, hideous infact & some days I still do.

Because underneath all of those words? It's shame.

And shame is exactly why women go through this alone.

Shame is why we hide our scars, our bodies, our reality.
Shame is why nobody warned us what real true life actually looks like after cancer surgery.

I'm not ashamed

I'm the opposite of ashamed

And if one woman sees this & feels a little less alone in her own skin today - then I'll keep showing up exactly like this

MY BODY & EVERY OTHER CANCER SURVIVOR WENT TO WAR WITHOUT BEING ASKED FIRST TO ENLIST

There is nothing shameful about the evidence that you survived it. 💚

The friend who disappearedThere are a few chapters to this story. And I'm in all of them.Chapter one - I was the one who...
09/06/2026

The friend who disappeared

There are a few chapters to this story. And I'm in all of them.

Chapter one - I was the one who disappeared.

A narcissistic partner isolated me from my best friend of nearly 10 years. Slowly, then completely. I stopped showing up. Stopped calling. Just... went quiet on someone who didn't deserve it

Her name is Sonia

Chapter two - I got the diagnosis

Stage 4b. In hospital. Didn't know if I was going to make it to Christmas.
Someone I considered a close friend I shared all of this with. We talked about it. Made plans - a motorbike ride,specifically said you'll need jeans & a flanno shirt, catch-up because none of us knew how long I had.

The date was set. The time agreed

And then nothing

Message after message. Unanswered

Then sorry - new phone, lost all my contacts

Then message after message again

Unanswered

I was really hurt. Still am, a little

Chapter three - Sonia came back

The woman I had ghosted. The friend I had abandoned because a narcissistic partner had convinced me I didn't need her

She found out I was in hospital

Within 2 days she'd made the 2 hour train trip down to see me

She made that 4 hour round trip at least twice a week for the entire 4 weeks I was there!

She's a keeper & so lucky to have her back

And somewhere in all of this - I reached back out to someone I had disappeared on during their family illness battle. Because I finally understood what that felt like from the other side. I apologised. It was the least I could do.

Here's what cancer taught me about people:

It doesn't always bring out the best in them. Sometimes it reveals what was always true.
The ones who couldn't show up - I've kinda made peace with that. Fear makes people do things that hurt.

The ones who showed up when they had every reason not too?
I'll never take them for granted again.

I've been on every side of this story.

The one who left. The one who was left.
And the one who was loved better than she deserved.

Which chapter are you in? 💚

My 8 year old cried watching the news last nightNot because she was scaredBecause she understoodThat's what cancer does ...
08/06/2026

My 8 year old cried watching the news last night

Not because she was scared

Because she understood

That's what cancer does to a family. Even the littlest ones learn things they should never have to know

Yesterday started like every other manic Monday - running to catch the school bus as it rolled into the stop, a science exam first up, not the greatest start for him.

Afternoon pickup was smoother. Nobody hopped off without their cello or sports bag. Love those small wins.

Dinner was easy

And then 7pm arrived & A Current Affair.

Professor Richard Scolyer. A man who was handed a terminal brain cancer diagnosis and used it to advance research that will outlive him by decades

my youngest - she listened "Be Big, Be bold, Be Courageous" she balled her eyes out, she understood the enormity of the story - she really got it cause she's lived through it too

We passed each other tissues - she turned & said I wanna to be like him a researcher - shes 8!

This morning we were better prepared. Nobody ran for the bus.
On the way home from drop off alone in the car I belted out Celebrate Me by Ingarose - It felt fitting

Got a little teary

I could blame the Letrozole for how I'm feeling this morning. It's a convenient excuse - people accept it without question

But the truth is - it's not the Letrozole

It's the flood. The memories. The reminders of a journey that only some truly understand because they've lived it too

Some days the past and the present just sit in the same room together
And you need to just let them be

Maybe it's just me 💚

Today is International Cancer Survivors DayAnd I'm not going to lie - there was a time I didn't think I'd get to say tha...
06/06/2026

Today is International Cancer Survivors Day

And I'm not going to lie - there was a time I didn't think I'd get to say that

But here I am
50 years old. Mum of three. Still standing. Slightly held together by caffeine and stubbornness... but still here

Still watching my kids grow up
Still laughing at things I probably shouldn't
Still burning dinner
Still losing my keys
Still figuring out who I am after everything changed
And honestly? That's what surviving looks like

Not a pink ribbon
Not a hospital photo
Not an inspirational quote on a sunset

Just a woman getting on with it
Some days gracefully
Most days chaotically
All days gratefully!

Happy Cancer Survivors Day to every woman still here
We earned this one. 💚

This Sunday is National Cancer Survivors DayI used to think surviving meant you got to feel good about it. Turns out it ...
06/06/2026

This Sunday is National Cancer Survivors Day

I used to think surviving meant you got to feel good about it. Turns out it mostly means you're still here, still figuring out who you are now, still standing in front of the mirror wondering who that person is.

Significant reduction in personal assets and all.

If that's you - if you're in the messy, unfiltered, nobody-warned-me-about-this part of life after cancer - you're exactly who RAH was built for!

We just set up on Instagram for those of you who live there. Same community, same honesty, zero filter.

Come find us 💚

Friday Funny timeCancer Survivor BingoBe honest - how many did you get? 😂Comment BINGO if you got 3 in a rowComment FULL...
05/06/2026

Friday Funny time

Cancer Survivor Bingo

Be honest - how many did you get? 😂

Comment BINGO if you got 3 in a row
Comment FULL HOUSE if you got all 9

And tag your cancer bestie who needs to see this

Happy Friday legends!
💚

Nobody warns you that surviving cancer comes with a second full-time jobIt's called solo mum taxi service.Yesterday I sp...
04/06/2026

Nobody warns you that surviving cancer comes with a second full-time job

It's called solo mum taxi service.

Yesterday I spent the morning hunting down bake day supplies and a Gold Rush costume for Friday's excursion. The afternoon was supposed to be swimming lessons.

Instead, Bronson hopped on the school bus home instead of meeting us at the pool. Reece had to leave a work meeting to rescue him from the bus stop. Then he found out training had been moved to yesterday - with formal team photos after. And start his Science and Japanese revision - Due today

Somewhere in between all of that there was supposed to be dinner, a load of washing & feed the dog

Swipe to see how everyone handled the chaos 👉

That Hamilton Island R&R feeling?

Yeah... that lasted about 48 hours. 😂💚

I still don't think part of me fully believed I'd make it to 50And yet there I was...packing swimmers & sunscreen for a ...
03/06/2026

I still don't think part of me fully believed I'd make it to 50

And yet there I was...
packing swimmers & sunscreen for a surprise trip my kids secretly planned months ago 💚

Back during the Black Friday sales apparently...
while I was just busy surviving hectic mum life

What gets me most isn't even the trip itself
It's the thought that went into it

The clues
The poem
The handmade boarding passes

The excitement from the kids trying to keep it a secret - except Frankie 😂

Because this trip wasn't really about turning 50

It's about the fact I survived long enough to get here
And I don't think I'll ever fully have words for what that means. 💚

Someone commented on my scar post asking why anyone would want to show their body like thatIt's a fair question. And her...
02/06/2026

Someone commented on my scar post asking why anyone would want to show their body like that

It's a fair question. And here's my honest answer

I nearly didn't.

I looked at that photo and thought it was hideous. Genuinely. If I couldn't stand looking at it - why would anyone else? I had a brand new page, barely any followers, and every reason to keep it hidden.

But had asked women to show the scars that shaped their journey. So I took a deep breath, thought "stuff it" - and hit post.

Because I spent months changing in the dark. Avoiding mirrors. Wearing baggy clothes hoping nobody would look too closely at what was missing

Because somewhere right now there's a woman sitting in a hospital gown, terrified, about to lose parts of her body - and she has absolutely no idea what she's going to look like on the other side. No one shows her. No one talks about it. She just gets to find out alone

That's not ok

I didn't post that photo for attention
I didn't post it for sympathy
I definitely didn't post it because I've made peace with it all - some days I still haven't.

I posted it because the silence around what cancer actually does to a woman's body doesn't protect us. It isolates us. And I'm done being quiet about it.

So yeah. That's why

And would I do it again?

Hell yes I would 💚

See less

When I started Rebuilt - After Her back in March, I thought it was a page only about cancer & cancer products.Turns out ...
01/06/2026

When I started Rebuilt - After Her back in March, I thought it was a page only about cancer & cancer products.

Turns out I was wrong!

Well... either wrong or having a midlife crisis. Jury's still out on that one

After Hamilton Island, turning a dreaded 50, and finally having some space to breathe, I've realised something

Cancer will always be a big part of my story...the scars, the surgeries, the stuff nobody warns you about

But it's not the whole story

Because life is still going.... School camps happened. Kids kept growing. I ate my body weight in food, nearly lost my lunch on a ferry & the cat tried to stow away!

Rebuilt - After Her isn't just about cancer.

It's about what can come after.

The messy, funny, sometimes awful, sometimes brilliant business of figuring out who you are when life has knocked you sideways.

Some days that's going to be raw and real
Some days it's going to be absolutely ridiculous
Most days it'll probably be both

If that sounds like your kind of page - stick around. It's about to get interesting. 💚

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