OGFNC PINK LADIES DAY

How Ocean Grove former oncology nurse Gill Hodgson became the patient

Ocean Grove FNC life member Gill Hodgson never thought she’d be the cancer survivor speaking at the club’s annual Pink Day, until a routine mammogram changed everything.

Gill Hodgson thought she’d left the oncology ward behind when she transitioned from nursing into education nearly two decades ago.

However last July, the Ocean Grove mother-of-two made an unexpected return to Barwon Health – the same hospital where she began her career 35 years earlier – this time as a breast-cancer patient. It started with a routine mammogram, one the 56-year-old had scheduled slightly later than usual. When she arrived home and performed a breast check, she discovered a lump that would change everything. “I got home, checked my breast and found a lump. Something didn’t feel right,” Ms Hodgson said.

An ultrasound revealed not one lump but two, along with thickening under her arm.

A biopsy confirmed stage three DCIS oestrogen-positive breast cancer that had already spread to her lymph nodes. “My whole world just flipped upside down,” she said. “I was devastated.”

When her PET scan results came back “lit up like a Christmas tree” with both cancerous and precancerous tissue, the treatment plan shifted dramatically. What was supposed to be a simple lumpectomy became six months of chemotherapy, followed by a mastectomy.

“That day when I looked at those results and my son was sitting next to me was probably one of the scariest days of my life if I’m perfectly honest and I don’t get scared by medical things easily.”

But the now 57-year-old said her nursing background – combined with 12 years of fundraising for the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) – helped her navigate the journey. The primary school educator credited her incredible team of breast care nurses at Barwon Health for her recovery. “They supported me through everything,” Ms Hodgson said. “I’m just super thankful.”

Ms Hodgson is celebrating completing her active treatment this month, just in time to speak at the Ocean Grove Football Netball Club’s Pink Day on May 16 – an event she has helped organise for more than a decade as a life member and former director of netball.

But this year, instead of buzzing around with a microphone preparing other speakers, she’ll take the stage herself alongside a friend and work colleague who was diagnosed within a month of her. “I feel very honoured to speak at Pink Day and I actually feel a little vulnerable to speak because it’s not the usual role that I have on the day,” Ms Hodgson said.

Now officially cancer-free but facing ongoing preventive treatment, she’s using her unique perspective to encourage early detection. “I hope people get the message that it’s really important to know your breasts, have regular mammograms and seek out information from places like BCNA,” Ms Hodgson said.

To support Ocean Grove Netball and Footy Club’s Pink Day on May 16 or to sign up for PLAY4BCNA, visit pinksportsday2026.bcna.org.au.