'You don't take things for granted': Giulia Jones celebrates being cancer-free

The mother-of-six says less than a year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she is now officially in remission.

After being diagnosed last May, Mrs Jones, who turns 44 on Thursday, had surgery to remove the lump and 16 rounds of chemotherapy and three weeks of radiation.

Apart from "managing fatigue" that should soon be OK, she has now been given a clear bill of health.

"I'm really excited I've been told I'm in remission," she said.

"I'm one of the lucky ones, I've come out of this. At the moment I'm cancer-free."

Mrs Jones described her initial diagnosis as a "total shock".

"Some great advice that was given to me by a doctor during the Christmas break was just to 'move on'," she said.

"Have the life you're lucky enough to have and just enjoy it."

Now the chief executive of Painaustralia, Mrs Jones started to lose her hair during her treatment.

She decided to shave it all off and raise money for So Brave, a charity for young women with breast cancer and for Painaustralia, directing the funds to young women in chronic pain. A total of $26,000 was raised.

Her hair is now starting to grow back.

Mrs Jones said she had been humbled by the support shown to her by the community.

"I was just blown away by the love and the kindness that was shown to me in the last year and it's changed me, really," she said.

"It's left me feeling that I'm more precious and that's a huge gift for anyone.

"We don't necessarily wake up every morning and thinking we're the best thing since sliced bread but after all the years of serving the community, the community really came in around me.

"People would stop me in the supermarket and ask me how I'm going and it was beautiful.

"So, it's probably warmed me up a little bit as a person and I hope to spread that as I go."

She noticed the lump by chance, rather than from a routine screening.

"My message to women who are 40 to 50 and younger, if you have any concerns about cancer or any funny feelings or you're tired or you just want to know some more, you book into one of those [breast] scans. That's what they're there for," she said.

"Don't let anyone tell you you can't have one, because you can. It doesn't cost you anything and all you have to do is book in."

Mrs Jones said after going through the arduous cancer treatment, she felt a new lease on life.

"But 2023 will never leave me," she said.

"And I was very glad I was here with all these great people and services around."

Mrs Jones is focusing on being back at work and spending time with her husband Bernard and their six children.

"I'm getting on with the greater enjoyment of every day that comes with something like this because you don't take things as much for granted. You just don't," she said.