Staying positive whilst dealing with cancer and the threat of COVID-19

Filli Kaoullas, is a Greek Australia who works as an operating theatre and surgical technician at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Melbourne’s inner northern suburb of Fitzroy. She talks to SBS Greek about her experience facing the Coronavirus crisis in her daily life.

Greek Australian Filli Kaoullas with some of her colleagues, at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Melbourne’s inner northern suburb of Fitzroy. Source: Supplied

Filli Kaoullas has spent the last eight years of her life in hospitals. In 2012, when her husband Andy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, they didn’t give up hope and managed to overcome even the most dramatic changes in life.

At that time, Filli was a PR manager and entrepreneur but decided to go back to university to become a surgical technician. 

Neurosurgeon Ian Wang, Surgical Technician Filli Kaoullas, Brainlab management Tom Bronts, and Neurosurgery Manager Tammy Caine, St Vincent’s Private, Fitzroy. Source: Supplied

For the past few years, she has worked at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Melbourne’s inner north suburb of Fitzroy, where she sets up operating rooms for the appropriate operations of the day.

Recently, St Vincent’s Private Hospital has commenced admitting all elective surgery patients, referred to as ‘Category 1’.

St Vincent’s Public Hospital, directly adjacent to the Private Hospital, has begun treating COVID-19 patients.  

St Vincent’s Private's Surgical Technician Filli Kaoullas. Source: Supplied

Due to the coronavirus crisis, Filli’s shifts are always between ten and 16 hours.

‘In every shift, I literally stand right next to the surgeons and the anesthetists. We are having COVID-19 training that starts from 7 am and sometimes finishes at 7 pm’.

‘What people need to know is that these doctors are also scared because they could get infected whilst they are treating people’.

‘They are also humans, they still have to go home to their families, to their wives and husbands, to their children and their parents’.

Surgical Technician Filli Kaoullas, Anaesthetics Manager Rebecca Morris, Tammy Caine Neurosurgery Manager, Diamond Kavidas Theatre Reception assistant. Source: Supplied

Filli’s family continues to battle cancer.

‘My husband is immune-compromised because of his pre-existing condition. During the last weeks, we have slept in separate rooms. I am doing this to protect our home’.

Recently, her younger sister, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, commenced chemotherapy.

Filli is on the front line, and she told SBS that she could potentially carry the highly contagious virus.  

‘We don’t have a vaccine for the virus as of yet and the number of positive tests is continuously rising overnight. We could get infected and not have the symptoms. So, we must stay low, stay home and do the right things like washing our hands and keep the social distancing’.

She says that she feels like every other Australian at the moment.

‘This virus is a big question mark. None of us are certain how this is going to unfold. It’s a pandemic. We need to listen to our Premiers and to our Prime Minister.

She stresses that there are few stories and headlines of people who have had the virus and survived.

“We are mainly watching and listening to news about the soaring death rates, the sad cases, the people, the doctors and the nurses that are getting infected’.

Filli told SBS Greek that the whole idea is to try and isolate all of the people that have traveled overseas, who don’t know if they carry the virus.

‘They must stay home, especially when they have the symptoms. Don’t even go to your GP, call them first, isolate yourselves’.

‘We all need to be aware that we could potentially carry the virus’ Filli told SBS Greek.

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