Julia Watson - Breakfast, School Run, Chemo: The Sometimes Funny, Definitely Not Depressing, True Story of a Mum With Cancer

Published by Nero,

an imprint of Schwartz Publishing Pty Ltd

3739 Langridge Street

Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia

www.nerobooks.com

Copyright Julia Watson 2015

Julia Watson asserts her right to be known as the author of this work.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior consent of the publishers.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Watson, Julia, author.

Breakfast, school run, chemo : the sometimes funny, definitely not depressing, true story of a mum with cancer / Julia Watson.

9781863957830 (paperback)

9781925203615 (ebook)

CancerPatientsBiography.

WomenVictoriaBiography.

362.1969940092

Cover artwork: Belinda Marshall

Photograph (back cover): Dale Taylor Photography

Cover and text design by Jen Clark Design

To my four fairies and my fella, with all my love

Contents

FOREWORD
by Catherine Deveny

Julia Watson is not the first person to get cancer.

Or the first woman to write.

Or the first mother to author a book.

Or the first suburban renegade to have a story worth telling.

Brilliance is simply getting it done.

Julia Watson is brilliant because she did it. She navigated the obstacles of procrastination, self-doubt, distraction, fear of rejection, desire to please, imposter syndrome, feelings of being unworthy. She ignored the social construct of what a good mother, a good wife or a good woman does or is. She walked past the pile of washing and the dishwasher that needed to be packed and instead sat and wrote.

Jules navigated all the social rumble strips, emotional cattle prods and WRONG WAY GO BACK signs, chose a detour off the main road and took the risk she knew she would regret if she didnt. She forged her own path and sang from her heart. The handful of friends she shared her journey with has multiplied into tens of thousands of fans who hang on every word she writes.

So we know what makes Julia brilliant. What makes this book brilliant is Julias talent, courage and irreverence. Most people cant get past the dreaming of the dream to the doing of the dream. As soon as they encounter a doubt, a distraction or an obstacle, they take it as a sign they should stop. A message they dont have what it takes. A warning that its time to pipe down, princess because youve gotten a bit too big for your boots and youre being a bit of a show-off.

Julias drive to share her story and connect is so strong we are able to enjoy and marvel Julias immense talent as a writer, a storyteller and a brave warrior. Straight from her strong beating heart and her irreverent spirit onto the pages of this book.

Arent we lucky?

Go get em tiger!

Love Dev x

You become. It takes a long time. Thats why it doesnt happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things dont matter at all, because once you are Real you cant be ugly, except to people who dont understand.

The Velveteen Rabbit

INTRODUCTION

I didnt set out to write a book about cancer. Back in 2013, before I was diagnosed, I had been giving a lot of thought to the direction I wanted my life to take. I had four beautiful daughters, a loving husband and a lovely home, but I was seeking more. I wanted more than a career. I wanted an opportunity to make some sort of mark on the world.

An idea began to take root. I was studying a Diploma in Community Development and I knew that I wanted to work with refugees and asylum seekers, right at the coalface. I had also started writing guest pieces on other peoples blogs and a few articles for Essential Baby. I really enjoyed the writing, but I also loved the feedback I was getting from readers. Community work or writing? Well, why not both? Perhaps I could use my writing to share the stories of people in disadvantaged positions in society.

I have always had a strong sense of justice and a belief in everyones equal right to be afforded it. I knew if I was going to write about peoples stories, their lives and what mattered to them, I had to do it with honesty, respect and courage. I wanted to be able to look into the eyes of an Afghani mother as she gifted me with the story of the trauma her family went through at the hands of the Taliban and say, The lives of you and your family are just as important as mine. Im glad youre here. I wanted to kneel beside someone that calls the cold streets of a big city their home and say, I know how you came to be here. I know that with only a tiny twist in my own tale, one different corner turned, I could have been here too. You are important, you matter, every bit as much as someone who looks down at you from their pedestal and doesnt even try to understand.

I didnt just want to interview people, trot out a tale and hope that people were moved by it. I wanted to challenge people and make them think. I wanted to write the stories of the marginalised so that anyone who read them couldnt shrink away from their truth, but would have to think about how a different fall of the cards could have put them in the same position as those that they may have been judging.

I knew I would need to be brave enough to go against the grain and stand by what I believed in. I didnt quite feel ready yet but I wanted to get there.

Towards the end of the year, I saw a writing masterclass advertised on writer and comedian Catherine Devenys Facebook page. Id long been an admirer of Catherine: her authenticity, her non-fuck-giver stance, her humour and her absolute determination to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Her sheer throw-it-all-out-there transparency was exactly what I aspired to and I hoped that by going to her class a little bit of it would rub off on me. I booked in for the February masterclass.

Then, in December 2013, I was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer. The resulting grief, fear and pain and the management of my cancer consumed me. In the wake of the diagnosis, I felt like everything was lost especially my creativity. I felt like I wasnt a person anymore: I was cancer.

When the day of the masterclass came round I didnt really think that I would go, but the idea of hanging out with Catherine for a whole day won out.

At the start of the workshop, we had to introduce ourselves to the person next to us and tell them why we were there. We were then supposed to introduce our partner to the rest of the group. I struggled with how to bring up the elephant in the room. From memory, I told the man sitting beside me that I had been diagnosed with terminal cancer but I wanted to believe that I was more than that and there was still a life for me outside of it. I also said I hoped I could think of something to write about that had nothing to do with cancer. Poor guy!

That day was the turning point for my writing career. We all wrote a piece during the class, and Catherine generously offered to share these pieces on her website if we could send them to her by 10 pm. I wrote mine about growing up with a mother with mental illness, tidied it up that evening and got it to Catherine on time. When it was uploaded, I shared it on my own Facebook page as well. There was such an enormous reaction to it that it was picked up by Essential Baby and published on their website.