Four years ago Renae Berry should have been the happiest she’d ever been. An in-demand musical theatre star and actress, she had the world at her feet and one of Australia’s most popular actors – Underbelly and Rush star Rodger Corser – on her arm.
Then she received the news nobody wants to hear. And the initial prognosis wasn’t good.
“I had had irregular bleeding, so I went to see a specialist, and they found cancerous cells,” says Renae, sitting in the Melbourne flat she shares with husband Rodger.
“They weren’t sure whether the cells had come from my uterus or cervix. They did a biopsy, and then I had head-to-toe scans because they thought it could also be in another part of my body. But they didn’t seem to know what was going on. “It was a really terrifying experience.”
Only a year into their relationship, Rodger and Renae’s world was thrown into free fall.
“Renae had a doctor tell her he wanted to give her a hysterectomy straight away. And then he basically said her life expectancy might only be four to five years after that,” Rodger says slowly, clearly still affected by the frightening prognosis.
“He told me that because of the severity of the cancer, the best way to eliminate it from my system was to have a hysterectomy,” Renae adds. “But there was no way I was just going to cop all of that.”
Seeking a second opinion, Renae changed doctors and embarked on the invasive rounds of tests and surgeries all over again.
But this time, the news was much better – unable to find any more of the cancer, her doctor told her she was out of the woods. It looked as though the cancer hadn’t spread.
Renae had her life back – but the 12 months it took to get to that point had taken its toll.
“It was a tough time for both of us,” says Rodger, looking over at his beautiful wife, who is, perhaps somewhat miraculously, just over 15 weeks pregnant with their first child.
“That time definitely brought us closer together. It would be a test for any couple, really – you would either feel closer from the experience or it would tear you apart.
But we faced it together – and we got through it.”
For the story see this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale April 19, 2010.
