Hi family, friends and fellow fighters,
I’m Gypsy. My real name is Lauren, but I’m Lozzy, Mum, Mrs Telford, Madame Lash, Coggan; I am a lot of different names, to a lot of different people. Most commonly though, across miles and years, most know me as Gypsy-Rose. I’m 42, an extremely happily married mother of two, fulltime asistant principal and teacher from Southern Sydney who, up until 3rd July 2026, was living an insanely busy, high powered existence of work, family, kids sport, travel and a hectic social life (for all four memebers of my family). I have prided myself on working hard, playing hard, loving hard and living life to its fullest, never a dull moment and plenty of bubble and bounce in our lives.
My life mottos are:
“Sleep is for the weak “
“You get 18 delicious summers with your children (if you are lucky). This is one of them, what are you doing? If that’s not perspecive, I don’t know what is.”
“Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, gets you nowhere”
I guess you could say I’ve lived a pretty cool life. I’ve been to heaps of countries, I’ve travelled A LOT, lived interstate and overseas for prolonged periods (before ending up with my very first primary school boyfriend and settling literally one street from where I grew up!), taught in Australia, Africa, Uk, Tibet and Nepal and experienced HEAPS. I have loved, I have lost, I have succeeded, I have never failed (but battled at times), I have always been positive and I have always liked talking and being a true LEO – the limelight has NEVER bothered me and I’ve always thought authenticity and genuinity are the greatest gifts a person can possess and exhibit. I have both and cherish them.
Arrogance, dishonesty and superficialness are my most disliked traits and I limit interactions with humans who exhibit these. That’s a bit about me, who I am and my values, now for my Breast Cancer journey.
The Big C Bomb
I felt a lump in the shower before school on Tuesday 30th June 2026. I just brushed past it with the soap, went back (as a non-self examiner) and tried to rub it out, like you would a blocked duct when breast feeding. Unfortunately, it didn’t rub out, it stayed there, hard, raised and unresponsive.
Given that all three of my paternal aunties had survived breast cancer, I got straight out of the shower and rung Aunty Shirl at 7.15am. She was still in bed, but awake, she tells me, and in her slightly country, matter of fact, without too much fuss kinda speak, she told me that it’s probably nothing but to see the GP just to check. I saw him that arvo, had the mam, ultrasound, and biopsy the following day and was diagnosed by the Friday 3rd July.
Treatment
Since my diagnosis 8 weeks ago, I have had 2 unsuccessful lumpectomies (no margins met as microscopic cells are present throughout the breast tissue), my port inserted and my first round of chemotherapy, of which I am having 6 rounds at this stage. This will be followed by radiation and a double mastectomy. I shaved my head 2 weeks ago, prior to starting chemo and raised $10 440 for Breast Cancer Network Australia, donating my hair to children’s cancer wigs.
Why Have I Started This Page?
I was talking to a friend on the weekend about what else I can do to help others during this journey. I thought I might write a book about my journey, but, I see now that is a fairly outdated concept. So I’ve spent a few days researching how to create blogs, stories and hopefully a meaningful and effective way to track my journey.
I’ve created Gypsy Warrior – This is Me to document my journey from here – honestly. The good days, the rough days, key moments, tears, feels, my tribe and life day to day during this time. Lets see how this technological dinosaur goes with yet another challenge! Stay tuned! xx
gypsywarriorthisisme 