Camp Quality Archives: Emma’s journey from childhood cancer to giving back
Camp Quality helps Tammy’s family experience quality times during cancer treatment
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Camp Quality mum, Tammy, is taking on the 2026 Canberra Marathon, in memory of all the friends she has lost to cancer and to support Camp Quality, who helped her family experience joy during her treatment.
Tammy was only three weeks from finishing maternity leave with her third child, Seth, in March 2022, when she felt a small lump in her breast.
“I was breastfeeding at the time and have had mastitis before, so I wasn’t too concerned,” Tammy says.
After losing her brother-in-law four weeks prior to cancer, and knowing about his struggles to get diagnosed due to a lack of symptoms, Tammy decided it was better to get the lump checked out than worry about it.
“I went to the doctor that day and was asked the usual questions; any known genes? ‘no’ Anyone in my family previously who had cancer? ‘no’ Age? ‘35’. I was told it was likely mastitis, but I asked the doctor to humour me and send me for a test.
“My diagnosis came back a week later as breast cancer.”
Tammy’s breast cancer was fast-growing and aggressive. In the month between her diagnosis and the start of her first round of chemotherapy, the tumour had grown in size, had satellite tumours and moved into her lymph nodes.
“After I was diagnosed, life became very crazy. My husband, Ben, was caring for our three kids and me.”
Tammy’s baby boy, Seth, was born during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and with no immunity from being out in the community, was suddenly spending five days a week in childcare and picking up every bug that the other kids brought in.
“It was a big transition for Seth to go from having me all the time to only seeing my face over the phone and my husband essentially being the main caretaker. It was very difficult to see him reaching out to me because he was sick, wanting mum, and I was too immunocompromised to care for him.”
Tammy’s older son, Dax, was five, and her daughter, Isabella, was nine when she was diagnosed.
“Dax knew about cancer. He knew that his Uncle Joey just passed away from it. He cried a lot during this time, having multiple nightmares at night that I had passed. He was very scared about losing me. Isabella reacted with anger. Lockdown was finally over, and we were still essentially locked down. Life revolved around staying at home, hospital visits, and any time with me was watching a tv show together because that’s all I could manage.”
Tammy worked in a microbiology laboratory that handled infectious diseases. With her immunity low from treatment and much of her time spent in the hospital, her company supported her by providing desk work she could do, a separate office space and allowed to work remotely from home and the hospital.
“I endeavoured to work during treatment, but I used a lot of sick leave. I had already exhausted my annual leave for time off with my baby. My husband took a lot of unpaid time off while caring for Seth or me when he got sick. He is a teacher and losing quite a bit of his income, as well as the costs of increasing daycare for all three kids to full-time, meant our finances were very limited.”
Tammy and Ben’s parents helped as much as they could, paying for treatment and having Tammy stay when her children were sick.
“I had six cycles of chemotherapy treatment, one every three weeks. I was hospitalised for up to a week and a half for five of those treatments. I communicated a lot with my kids and husband via FaceTime. If Seth got sick, as he did a lot, I stayed with my parents so I could continue treatment. Ben also got sick a lot. He tested positive for COVID-19 three times in those six cycles, as well as RSV.”
After Tammy finished treatment, she had a mastectomy in September 2022, followed by radiation and then six months of immunotherapy treatment, finishing in 2023. After some complications, she had to have an additional surgery and finished her treatment plan in January 2024.
“I still had testing every three months, but I started rehab to gain some strength back. I was still very fatigued, had gained weight and had multiple areas of chronic pain.”
During her treatment, Tammy was given a flyer for Camp Quality by one of her nurses and registered immediately. They weren’t ready to attend a program with other families but accepted a few Family Experience tickets to shows and events.
“My favourite day during chemo was one that Camp Quality offered us tickets to a Harry Potter themed night out at the Yule Ball. These are memories I hold on to for life.”
After surgery and chemotherapy were finished, Tammy felt ready to register for their first Family Camp.
“Camp Quality lives by its name and gave us quality during those hard times. At our first camp, volunteers watched our littles one and allowed my husband and me to have dinner. Between treatment and COVID lockdown, it was our first meal together in nearly two years.”
“The volunteers truly are the heart of Camp Quality; they took Dax and Isabella to do so many fun activities with other children who were also affected by cancer. They went above and beyond to make these days out a fun and memorable time for the children.”
After camp, Tammy and her family excitedly awaited their next program, a Family Fun Day at Jamberoo water park.
“I wasn’t feeling well, and an incredible volunteer doctor looked after me, allowing my husband to go with the kids and play. It helped us find some fun and normality whilst I was still recovering.”
After months of careful monitoring, Tammy received the amazing news from her doctors that they could not detect any remaining cancer, and she was officially in remission.
“I have many symptoms from the treatment. I am still very fatigued and require a lot more sleep than the average person or myself pre-cancer. I get muscular spasms at my mastectomy site regularly and random sharp pains. I also have neuropathy in my left hand, which gets exacerbated when I exercise, but I am feeling fitter, losing weight, and every day I feel very lucky to be here.”
In August 2025, Tammy signed up for the 2026 Canberra Marathon, raising money for Camp Quality, and running in memory of all her friends she has made during her journey, who lost their battle with cancer.
“When I started training, I could barely run. My first run was 1.2km, and it was slow and a struggle. I had been working with my personal trainer to improve my cardio specifically, and then I set myself this crazy challenge for more motivation. It is not lost on me that I have the privilege to try to achieve this and the privilege of time. And I am going to use it.”
“I still don’t know if I can do it. I am training as if I can. For all the people who can’t. I have lost so many friends in my support groups, and every time it gets tough, I tell myself, how fortunate I am to be able to try to do this.”
“With Camp Quality, you never know when you will be giving a family their last quality time together. Some people I met along the way, this was their last quality time with their family. These were the last memories some children and parents may get to spend together. And what an incredible gift that is.”
