Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation - Mandy's Timeline

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A decade
with the “beastie”

One family's battle with ovarian cancer and the silver linings that helped them through

Follow this intimate narrative documenting one Melbourne family’s experience, while their Mum and wife, Mandy Herbert, faced ovarian cancer—including the positive impact research and community support had on their life during this time.

Words by Mandy’s daughter Georgie, with additions from Mandy’s husband Philip, younger daughter Penny, doctors and friends. Accompanied by extracts from Mandy’s personal diary.

Before 2006

Pre-diagnosis

Mandy had just turned 50. She was living in the Glen Iris home she'd shared with her husband Philip for 30 years, with their daughters Georgie and Penny. Their life was busy and their home was always full of friends and laughter. Life was good and there was still so much of it to look forward to.

Before2006

The time before

I guess Mum as a person was the same as she was as a mum. She was generous, kind, selfless. Melbourne was always her home. My sister Penny and I even went to the same highschool as her—which was pretty special.

Mum was always a super good cook. She'd whiz around the kitchen whipping up a storm most days—full of energy and enthusiasm for her next creation.

I still remember her biggest pet peeve—she’d be halfway through cooking our dinner and Dad would come home from work and start putting dishes she hadn't yet used in the dishwasher and adding his own ingredients to her cooking. It would drive her crazy!

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But what I remember most is that Mum was always a bundle of fun and laughs and definitely the life of the party and the light in the room.

Amongst our friends, my sister Penny and I were known to have the best ‘party’ house of all during our university days. Mum and Dad were so good about it. They were always invited to stick around for the party. And Mum ALWAYS did.

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“We met through mutual friends. Mandy was in London for a while and I offered to look after her dog (brownie points!). One day the dog escaped and was found dangerously close to the Eastern Freeway. I guess I’m pretty lucky she was still interested in me after that.

We were married in 1978 and built a wonderful life together. I guess you could say things were pretty normal for us. The girls were still living at home, we enjoyed work, walking the dog and weekends at the footy. Life was simple but life was good. We had all we could ever want—we were healthy and our kids were happy.”

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- Philip Herbert (Mandy’s husband)

The next phase

The first two years

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A decadewith the “beastie”

Before 2006

Pre-diagnosis

The first two years

A decade
with the “beastie”