Vanessa Chisholm

Well today has been my last cold dip for Cancer today. Supported by my friends Helen and Leisa. I’m so grateful for your company, support and friendship!

Dip#5

Well I thought the daffodils needed to get wet today. It was an absolutely gorgeous blue sky day at Woonona Rock Pool. There were many others out and about. Mums with kids playing in the sand and a few other swimmers. An onlooker came to chat. My daffodil cap acting as a beacon. She offered to take a photo. She shared her cancer story. She told me she dipped last week, as part of a large local swim group. It was nice to be thanked for my efforts. Despite the warmth today, I struggled with the cold water. Perhaps my head wasn’t exactly in it today. I’ve got a lot going on, causing me some stress. Hahaha MIND OVER MATTER is normally how I face difficult things. If you can get your head around challenges, the action is easy. I’ll work on it this weekend!

Thanks everyone for your donations. 

Just a few days left in August and just one more cold dip for me! September brings new adventures, new and exciting experiences and new challenges on the home front!

Daffodil Day 20 August, 2026!

Plenty of people willingly swim in the cold waters off Australia’s east coast all year round. It’s an Aussie way of life.

Me? I’ve done my fair share of cold-water plunging too — in Italy in February and March 2023, while Italians gestured at me saying, “Sei pazzo!” And in Scotland, plunging into a freezing loch with other Wild Water Women.

Maybe I was a little crazy. I probably still am! 🤣🤪

But after Geoff died, I discovered something about myself. Swimming eased the panic and anxiety of grief. It forced me to control my breathing and, for a while, quietened some of grief’s awful effects. There is something about the calmness of water that has a profound effect on me.

When I travelled solo for nearly nine months in 2023, Mum and Dad were two of my greatest supporters. Mum was always engaged, always commenting and always cheering me on during our weekly FaceTimes. She was even onto my budding romance before I was! 😂 There are some things mums just know, right? Mum was very happy, encouraging it! 

Within a week of returning home in November 2023, I could see Mum wasn’t well. Before I’d left, I’d told Mum and Dad they had better still be sitting on their perch when I got home.

By Mum’s birthday in February 2024, we knew her cancer had returned.

Not breast cancer again. 

Metastatic cancer. 

Everywhere.

I was grief-stricken on so many levels.

At the same time, I had begun renovating our family home — the house Dad built in 1996 — after it had been trashed by renters. I didn’t tell my family what I was doing. There were too many memories and too much grief tied up in that house. I needed to work through it in my own way, at my own pace.

As Mum became weaker, Dad became even more determined to care for her, as he always had, so beautifully.

When Mum was eventually admitted to Concord Hospital for palliative care, I was spending my days doing manual labour on the house, often from early morning until late. Around dinner time I’d head to the hospital, feed Mum and spend some quiet time with her.

It was during those precious visits that Mum encouraged me to finally have the breast reduction I’d wanted since I was a young woman — and to see her own breast surgeon, Dr Ruben.

Mum endured so much without complaint: pain, lumps, fluid on her lungs and, eventually, nodules in her throat that took away her speech.

Mum died on 17 June 2024.

The following May, I took her advice.

I had my breast reduction in May 2025, cared for by Mum’s team. I’ll never forget going under anaesthetic with my forehead being stroked and my hand held by a beautiful blue-eyed nurse who told me she had done exactly the same for Mum.

And then Dad provided my after-care at “Joe’s Rehab.” 🧡

I’m a lucky girl.

You don’t always realise that having someone look after you — even simply making you a cup of tea — is one of life’s greatest little pleasures until you lose your significant other.

And Mum’s advice gave me one more unexpected gift.

My pathology found atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) — abnormal breast cells that aren’t cancer, but are associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer in the future.

So now I know. I can be vigilant.

In a way, Mum was still looking after me.

Cold-water dipping and raising money for cancer research are simply another part of my ongoing grief journey.

Grief never really leaves. It sticks like glitter.

But I’ve learned that sometimes, I can still ⭐️ sparkle ⭐️.

I sincerely want to thank everyone who has got behind me and donated already. Your support means more than you know.

And please let this be a reminder to get your bits checked!

Men and women — we all need to be vigilant.

Thank you for supporting cancer research and for helping me honour my beautiful Mum.

In loving memory of

🌼🌼🌼 Marie Lovisolo 🌼🌼🌼

24/02/1938 – 17/06/2024

Always remembered, forever loved!

Photo of mum patting Concord Hospital Therapy Dog taken 4 days before she passed.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Every dollar makes a difference. It funds new treatments, supports families, and helps prevent cancer in future generations.

If you can, please donate to my fundraiser and stand with me against cancer.

Please feel free to SHARE my Daffodil Day page!🌼🧡

Austinmer Rock Pool

Today I came for a walk and a change of scenery. I thought about those friends and family who have fought cancer. Breast, metastatic, brain, prostrate, skin, thyroid and throat cancer. 🧡🌼

Don’t be fooled by the sunglasses worn in the water or the blue skies. A little wild surf, turbulence in the rock pool and freezing. And did I mention the algae on the steps getting in. Lucky I always carry reef shoes.

Thanks for all the donations. Keep them coming!🌼

🌼Woonona Rock Pool🌼The sun wasn’t out today. It was freezing. But I like it here. The pool is good and the showers are close!And I left my phone in the car!😬So here’s the visual❄️👙🏊‍♀️😬😝❄️☁️

Every bit as cold as the first dip. OMG 🧡😬👙🏊‍♀️ Daffodils are still not getting wet. I can’t deal with wet hair too! 🧡🧡🧡🧡

I had another chilly swim today at Woonona Rock Pool. I love it there because the car park is above and there is an amazing view. People stood up above and cheered me on from the viewing platform atop the amenities block. Wearing my sexy Daffodil cap sets me apart from the other person braving the cold. 🥶 I guess doing this is nothing compared with the courage needed to face cancer and the dreadful consequences of the treatments. My mum did that, more than once! But this bastard Cancer got her in the end. Metastatic cancer- what a bloody awful thing to hear!🧡🧡🧡🧡