GPtakes break to care for hubby

By Kath Gannaway
WARBURTON GP Jenny Conway has been treating the Upper Yarra community for 15 years but, for a little while at least, the community will have to do without her.
In September last year, while on holiday with husband, Grant, and eight-year-old twins, Grant became ill. The long-awaited holiday was cut short and tests revealed cancer.
As a general practitioner, it was a diagnosis that Dr Conway had heard so many times before and helped so many people through.
But as a wife and mother, she said it was a moment nothing could have prepared her for.
“I’ve been on this journey with many patients over the years – finding out the nasty diagnosis, going through all the tests, the treatments, but it still doesn’t prepare you when it’s someone in your family,” she said.
“I thought I had a pretty good idea (about what her patients and their families were going through), but this has given me a greater perspective; there’s no doubt about that,” she said.
Grant lived at Launching Place when he and Jenny met. “We did lots of things like bushwalking and canoeing and so when I decided to go into general practice, I decided I would rather work in the country.”
There have been a lot of changes since she entered the largely Adventist community in 1990 as the only non-Adventist GP.
The hospital where her practice began has closed, but the is now a new medical centre, which Dr Conway owns with Dr David Church.
“In the early days, everything finished Friday lunchtime, and if you wanted to see a doctor you had to go to the old casualty.
“Now, with extended hours, we start early in the morning and go through to the evenings and Saturday mornings.”
While she says stepping back from the busy practice has not been easy, Dr Conway is enjoying the first real opportunity to be a stay-at-home mum and put a lid on their normally busy lifestyle.
There is more time to indulge her love of gardening, including growing the organic vegetables which are part of their new lifestyle changes, and there may even be time to get back to doing some painting.
Behind the changes is providing an environment which will give Grant the best chance to deal with his illness.
“People have been wonderful, from sending cards and letters to wishing us well when they see us in the street, and sending along organic fruit and vegetables until we get our garden up and running.
“I’ve stepped back for now, and, hopefully in the not too distant future, if everything works out, I will be able to start picking up sessions again,”Dr Conway said.