Cairns Artist Hayley Gillespie Shares Harrowing Cancer Journey

Cairns artist Hayley Gillespie shares harrowing cancer journey 

Cairns artist Hayley Gillespie had her spine and heart moved during surgery, lost her voice for three months, suffered tinnitus, lost balance and spent six months bed ridden after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Today she shares her remarkable story of survival as she calls on state MPs to throw their weight behind COUCH and find a funding solution. 

By Jennifer Spilsbury 

December 10, 2024 - 2:17PM 

The Cairns Post 

Colour and creativity bounces off the walls of renowned Cairns artist Hayley Gillespie’s Edge Hill studio as she sits in a much-loved comfy armchair. 

She is vivacious, bubbly and engaging just like her artwork which covers every inch of her treasured workspace. There are canvasses on easels, trays of paints, brushes galore and a life-sized piece being carefully crafted for the council’s Carols in the Park event on December 8. 

In her most desperate and dark times Ms Gillespie wondered how her beloved art could have tried to kill her. 

It is almost two-and-a-half years since she had half a lung and part of her ribcage removed in a surgery targeting a malignant tumour. 

It’s not a story many people know about Ms Gillespie who arrived in Cairns from England in 1996 as a backpacker but fell so in love with the place she never left. 

Ms Gillespie is passionate about Cairns, the reef and rainforest. 

But she is equally fervent about COUCH Wellness Centre which she believes should be added to a special list of “seven wonders of Cairns” after experiencing the life-changing effects of its programs and comforting environment. 

Ms Gillespie is sharing her emotional story for the first time publicly as part of the Cairn’s Post’s Champions of COUCH campaign, raising awareness of the integrative oncology facility off Reservoir Rd as it wages a funding fight for survival. 

The centre will be completely reliant on community contributions once federal funds cease in March but has received a wave of public support since the campaign began in November. 

However, there is hope of state government funding through its Queensland Cancer Strategy which offers investment in cancer survivorship services like COUCH (Cairns Organisation United for Cancer Health). 

Ms Gillespie is calling on the Far North’s state MPs to throw their weight behind COUCH and find a funding solution. 

IT CAN’T BE 

It took a while for reality to hit Ms Gillespie — a fit pocket rocket — when she was told she had cancer. 

“To be honest I just said, ‘Thank goodness, we’ll just leave it there’,” Ms Gillespie said. 

“It was a really wonderful doctor and he was Chinese, and he goes: ‘Well, no you need to go to hospital’. 

“And I said, ‘Yeah but if it’s just a malignant tumour, we’ll just leave it’. 

“I was just in shock. 

“He goes, ‘Well, I’m going to book you into the hospital. Just to be clear — you have a malignant tumour in your lung’. 

“And I was like, ‘Yeah thanks’. I was just so relieved and then about an hour later I was like, hang on.” 

After a Google search, she realised she had confused a malignant tumour for a benign one. 

Ms Gillespie was diagnosed just before her 50th birthday with a form of lung cancer that affects only females and generally Asian women. 

It was tough to take considering she didn’t smoke, had never coughed up blood “like they do in the movies” and cancer was something that happened to other people. 

Ms Gillespie, now 52 and a mum to son, Noah, 26, started looking for answers to the inevitable question of “why me?” 

There were signs including chronic fatigue and a loss of strength, which hampered her ability to lift large paintings, symptoms put down to long Covid and an “outrageous” persistent cough. 

She sought help numerous times to ease the pain in her lungs that felt like they were “on fire” and to stop her hacking up all that fluid. 

After feeling like being treated like a hypochondriac for a decade, it was almost a relief to finally know what was wrong, and that she wasn’t mad, she said. 

SCENT OF DANGER 

Medical experts have not confirmed what caused her cancer, but Ms Gillespie blames the mineral turps used to wash her brushes and oil paints — none of which she uses anymore. 

In a heartbreaking irony, she had to put down her 13-year-old cat, Gus, who was often by her side in her studio, one year before her diagnosis. 

Her vet believed he had lung cancer. 

Ms Gillespie’s body was pushed to the extreme during surgery and then even further during chemotherapy to attack the cancer which had spread to lymph nodes. 

“It felt like a giant had picked me up and threw me as hard as they could against a brick wall and I’d slid down the brick wall and was just crushed by the whole experience of chemotherapy.” 

But it gave her another “10 per cent” chance of survival on top of the surgery, which Ms Gillespie seized, even though she admits she would have preferred greater odds for the agony. 

She had her spine and heart moved during surgery, lost her voice for three months, suffered tinnitus, lost balance and spent six months bed ridden. 

Her body, but not her spirit, had been ravaged. 

A SOFT PLACE TO FALL 

COUCH helped Ms Gillespie breathe again — literally. 

With the help of professionals she regained strength and found calm, confidence and solace. 

She went to a Buddhist workshop to learn acceptance, found serenity through yoga, built muscle at supervised gym sessions with an exercise physiologist and found relief in a Qigong breathing program. 

“They had me doing headstands and the splits by the time I left!” 

COUCH also assisted Ms Gillespie in navigating the complex health system and provided advice and education for her partner Gio Douven and friends. 

She wants other cancer battlers to know they don’t have to suffer in unbearable isolation and that a wonderful, state-of-the-art facility with a supportive network is right here in Cairns. 

“It changed my life.” 

Ms Gillespie, who does the Red Arrow daily, has been cancer and drug free for the past two years and will now have check-up scans yearly going forward. 

She continues to support COUCH through her artwork including designing and producing Christmas cards for sale with proceeds going to the charity. 

Help make a difference and become a Champion of COUCH. To find out how you can build a future of comprehensive care for cancer battlers call 4032 0820 or email: champions@couch.org.au