23-06-2025
Meet the breast cancer survivors on a 'slightly unhinged' but growing support mission
When Carol Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018, she found solace in her connection online with a woman going through the same treatment.
As well as shock, confusion and a search for answers, the diagnosis and new friendship set off a chain of events that led to a "slightly unhinged" development — she joined the "Shitty Titty Committee" in her now home city of Busselton, Western Australia, a movement to make sure women don't struggle alone.
Ms Smith was 36 when she discovered a lump on her left breast.
"When they sat me down and said, 'You have breast cancer,' my reaction was just shock," she said.
"I was just completely numb.
Within two weeks, she had her first round of chemotherapy.
She turned to the internet to find advice and support from women experiencing the same thing.
"I had a lot of friends around me [but] just being able to reassure yourself that this symptom is normal, that this medication is meant to make you feel the way you're feeling, and anything like that that non-cancer people wouldn't be able to understand."
Ms Smith threw herself into fundraising after her successful treatment.
On the fifth anniversary of her diagnosis in 2023 she held the first Big Boobie Ball in Busselton, which brought local breast cancer survivors and patients together.
From there, the Shitty Titty Committee was formed.
The support group has grown its membership to about 17 women around the Busselton area.
Kate Grainger gave the group its "slightly unhinged" name in 2024.
Ms Grainger's breast cancer journey began in 2023 when she travelled from WA's Pilbara region to Busselton Hospital to give birth to her son.
There, the expecting mother was given a life-changing diagnosis.
"They said, 'You're baby is being born tomorrow' … I started chemo when he was nine days old," she said.
She was 1,400 kilometres from home and staying in an Airbnb.
But she was overwhelmed by the support of her new community, including another cancer patient who set up a "meal train" of food deliveries.
"It was just like giving my heart a hug because I knew I couldn't get up and make my family a meal and I couldn't carry my baby and couldn't hold my two or four-year-old," she said.
"I was very unwell for a very long time."
Ms Grainger, now 33, had a clear scan in October after long treatment.
She said she had turned her attention to helping others via the committee.
"I went to my oncologist a couple of months ago and there was this gorgeous woman sitting in the chair having her chemo infusion … she said, 'What's this Shitty Titty Committee?' and I said, 'Oh, it's just a group of us locals who have had the c-bomb dropped on us and we're just stumbling through it together,'" she said.
The Cancer Council estimates about 38 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every day in Western Australia.
Cancer Council WA supportive care director Melanie Marsh said she was pleased to see country people come together during a "scary" time in their lives.
"These support groups in regional areas are just fabulous to be able to bring that face-to-face support for people who need it."
