TANIA HOUGHTON
This time last year, Tania Houghton was immersed
in the chaos of running a new business and juggling
life with a toddler.
She had just opened the Newtown pizzeria
Bella Brutta with her partner Luke Powell and the
couple were both clocking 90-hour weeks as they
knuckled down to make their new business a success,
alongside their other restaurant, LP’s Quality Meats
in Chippendale.
2019 was set to bring another year of hustle
and bustle until Houghton discovered something
that brought her world to a standstill.
“I went to my doctor on the 4th of January to get
a check-up... my doctor found three lumps,” she says.
Her doctor told her not to worry, but with a
history of breast cancer in the family, Houghton
wasn’t taking any chances. After an ultrasound she
was recalled to her doctor’s surgery to receive some
earth-shattering news.
“Hearing that it was cancer was absolutely
terrifying. My ears started ringing and I remember just
feeling like I couldn’t breathe. My cheeks went numb.”
Houghton was sent straight to the hospital, where
she would begin a series of aggressive treatments
including five months of chemotherapy, a double
mastectomy and five weeks of radiography.
“I was told I had a choice in treatment but really
I had no choice at all if I wanted to give it another
50 years,” she says. “It seemed like a small price to
pay for the privilege of watching my son grow up.”
The impact of 2019 has been profound. But as
the year draws to a close, Houghton has finally had a
chance to absorb all that’s happened and realised that
it has been a major turning point for her family.
“Having my mortality questioned at 31 has
made me think about what’s important,” she says.
“It sounds like a cliché but I feel lucky that cancer
has so forcefully made us reconsider our options
before Frank was too old and we’d missed his
youth being too focused on work.”
One of her biggest challenges has been managing
her illness while parenting three-year-old Frank.
“Dealing with the debilitating side effects of chemo- lack of energy, physical differences, being admitted
to hospital with infections. These are all things that are
hard enough without throwing a toddler into the mix.
“I struggled with the heaviness of knowing that this
cancer was going to affect him in ways we will never
know... He is smart and understands far more than
we give him credit for so it was very much a challenge
to keep him informed in a way that he could cope.”
Friends, family and the community have been
essential to helping Houghton cope, in particular
Powell, who she describes as “the most consistent
and level-headed person I have ever met”. Her sisters,
parents and business partners also rallied around her,
along with friends who shaved their heads in solidarity.
“Having my mortality questioned
at 31 has made me think
about what’s important.”“From the moment we told everyone what was
happening, it has been nothing short of incredible to
see how people have stepped up and taken on huge
responsibility without being asked,” she says. “It’s
shown me the strength of community and just how
important it is.”
In return, Houghton has come to realise she owes
it to other women to share her story. “I would be doing
a disservice to so many other women to stay quiet. This
disease is most preventable if caught early and in a lot
of cases, by the time a lump is present, the cancer has
already been present in your body for up to five years.”
Her message to women: check yourself regularly.
Now, even as Houghton farewells the most
challenging year of her life, battered and bruised,
she remains optimistic. “I feel excited about 2020,”
she says. “There are a couple more hurdles to go
with treatment but I’m positive it’s under control
now and we can start living a life that isn’t based
on how sick I feel today.”
She’s looking forward to getting back on the
floor at both restaurants; to being a mum and partner
and not just a patient. And whatever next year brings,
she will embrace it with a new outlook.
“As I was struggling to come to terms with my
diagnosis, my surgeon said: ‘you could walk out onto
the street now and get hit by a car. This is just another
near miss.’ This is how I hope to approach life now.
With lightness. And a lot more of the people I love.” GOURMET TRAVELLER 87