From left: Jacqui Landis, Lorna O’Brien and Lindy Cohn at Grill'd, Crows Nest.It’s tricky to eat a burger, especially one that is as big as the burgers served at Grill’d, Crows Nest. Lorna O’Brien takes one look at her Field of Dreams vegetarian burger - made with a massive field mushroom, roasted peppers, pesto, cheese and salad - and asks for a knife and fork. 
It’s an enjoyable challenge. And that’s the way she likes life, especially after surviving ovarian cancer despite being told she only had months to live in 1997.
Now 14 years later, she’s vibrantly alive and is planning with friends Lindy Cohn and Jacqui Landis from Turramurra, her Relay for Life team, to raise money for the Cancer Council’s annual fundraiser. 
“Our team is called the Long Neck Lornas,” Lorna laughs. 
Lorna and Lindy work for the Cancer Council; Lorna is the Helpline program manager, and Lindy is an oncology nurse. Two weeks after Lindy started at the council, her sister was diagnosed with a brain tumour and the job became personal.
She and Jacqui, who owns Ravish Jewellery Imports, met through their children, now teenagers. To help with the Relay For Life, Jacqui just hosted a fundraiser at her Lindfield showroom, where mutual friends and customers shopped for silver necklaces, rings, watches and earrings while sipping champagne. A percentage of the sales was donated to the Relay.
“It was fun, wasn’t it? Everyone sat and chatted and had champagne and tried jewellery on - then there was a rush at the end to buy everything!” Jacqui says happily as she tackles her chicken caesar salad, while Lindy also uses a knife and fork for her vegetarian burger, aptly named Garden Goodness.
Lorna has a proper appetite now, but prior to her diagnosis, she thought she was getting an ulcer as she found eating difficult. Reflecting on that time, she is still amazed at how healthy she thought she was. “I was power walking, playing tennis ... I was so busy. I thought my body was changing shape, so I didn’t worry about my stomach thickening. 
“Then I went to my doctor for another reason, and she said while I was there, she’d check out this ulcer problem. When I lifted my shirt, her face changed. She was a friend so she became personally involved.”
By that afternoon, Lorna was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. What she assumed was her stomach thickening, was the tumour, and it was so big it was pressing on her other organs.
“My friend (the GP) was organising everything - my specialist, my scans ... and I said, ‘stop’. I had to cry.” Two days after diagnosis, Lorna faced an operation, then treatment and survival.
“Now I go by the three rule,” Lorna continues. “Does this matter in three days? Three months? Three years? It changed my perspective and my life.”
As they finish their meals, the trio talk about how research has improved the outlook for so many people with cancer.“Survival rates have got better,” Lindy observes. 
“And there’s so much more support too,” Lorna agrees. Her appetite is satisfied from the huge mushroom burger, but her own fields of dreams are the next course in her life.
Relay For Life May 21-22; relayforlife.org.au

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