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Erini Dinou has twice had her life turned upside down by cancer, but she has not let the disease stand in her way.
Diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago aged just 34, Erini said she was initially "pretty shocked".
"That's 20 years too young, I was told, and I certainly felt that," she said.
"You just go into survival mode, everything goes so fast and your life changes instantly."
Erini went to Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in Sydney, which had only just opened, for her first rounds of chemotherapy.
"That first lot of chemo was really hard. I had three rounds at Chris O'Brien and then I had to move back to New Zealand because I was not an Australian citizen," she said.
"But I had to go home, I needed family. I needed my Mum.
"So, the chemo was really tough the first time. I had surgery as well, a double mastectomy and reconstruction in one surgery, so I had nice beautiful boobs again and I really enjoyed those for seven years."
Once Erini had recovered from her treatment she was "on the first plane" back to Australia, which she called her "happy place".
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She said she could talk all day about "how amazing" Chris O'Brien Lifehouse is, likening it to a five-star hotel.
"When you're going through cancer, you have about 20 appointments and they might be in different suburbs, on different days.
"At Chris O'Brien, everything is under the one roof, it's so convenient. And it doesn't feel like a hospital, there's a nice café, there's family areas, the volunteers bring you a cup of tea," Erini said.
"I look forward to going there. Every three weeks I'm back there for an infusion, and I'm not dreading it. I sit in a beautiful space, there's a window, there's light, I can take my laptop and do some work.
"And you make friends with the nurses, so it's like a catch-up.
"I was there the first time seven years ago when they had opened with just two levels, and now there's eight levels open.
"I want to go back and volunteer there to give facials or hand massages. People want to donate to Chris O'Brien because they've had a good experience there."
Life has now taken Erini on a new path, one she says she never saw coming.
"I've been on a TV commercial, and then I was an extra in a Toni Collette Netflix series, so now I'm signed up with an acting/commercial agency and also, I do freelance business development for beauty salons," she said.
"So instead of doing treatments all day, I'm helping other people develop their businesses and I love that. That never would have happened if I hadn't had breast cancer."
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