Dear Family and Friends, 

I have decided to make a difference by taking part in the ‘You Are Beautiful’ Fundraising Photographic Exhibition to raise funds for Cancer Support WA. Cancer Support WA helps individuals and families dealing with Cancer by providing support services and the only 24 hour Cancer Support phone line in Australia.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL is a unique photographic exhibition and book project celebrating the life and stories of people touched by cancer. Organised by Cancer Support WA in partnership with master photographer Janet Craig and other sponsors, the purpose of You are Beautiful is to bring awareness to the untold stories of people with cancer, and to raise funds for Cancer Support WA.

Through here you can easily support my efforts by sponsoring my portrait, by making a secure donation online. I would also really appreciate it if you could share my page above or comment below so more people know about it.

Click 'Donate Now' to make a secure online donation. 

All donations over $2 are tax deductible and you will be issued with a DGR receipt via email as soon as you make a donation, which can be used at Tax time.

Cancer Support WA is hoping to raise $200,000.00. Your donation will help us reach this goal and the images will be displayed in a public exhibition in 2016. Details of the exhibition will be emailed to you closer to the date.

Please find below the story behind my image.

Thank you for your support!

MY STORY

Welcome to my fundraising page for the Cancer Support WA’s ‘You are Beautiful ‘campaign & thank you for taking an interest in my story…

What I promised my two young daughters, Rachael & Annie, when I broke the news to them in 2006 that I had been diagnosed with an invasive breast cancer, was that I would show them they didn’t have to be afraid of cancer. I don’t know why I said that because, at the time, we were caring for their Grandma who we knew was dying from cancer…but say it I did! That was eight years ago.

Today I still have cancer and yet I’m fitter & healthier than I was at the time of my diagnosis. How can that be you may wonder? Well, I turned my attention to the areas of my life that were compromising my health. I knew I had to give greater attention to my diet; become reconciled with some past experiences & my interpretations of them; consider the intensity with which I worked & come to know who I really am – not whom others expected or wanted me to be.

Just weeks after undergoing a lumpectomy & complete node excision; feeling vulnerable, frightened & confused because I was struggling with the advice from my specialists, I had nowhere, it seemed, to turn for any direction or guidance in finding a healing path. Thankfully, one sunny Tuesday, I came across the Cancer Support Association (now known as Cancer Support WA) in Cottesloe, Perth. On that day, the members & facilitators of the Tuesday Support Group helped me realise that the road ahead needn’t be one that had to be travelled alone, or one of complete darkness. It was they who shone the torch that lit up the road on which I took my first steps. My journey had begun!

To date, with the support & love of my family, friends & the amazing people who have come into my life; beautiful, fresh, wholesome food; a growing appreciation of myself & my place in our amazing world, I live a wonderfully fulfilling life…even though I live it with cancer. Every day is a day dedicated to the enjoyment I have for life, & every day is a day I live well with cancer. So, until I can say to you that cancer is something in my past, I will continue to live incredibly well, despite having cancer.

One of the reasons that I decided to become a part of this campaign is that I know, first hand, of the amazing support on offer at Cancer Support WA. I also know, as a founding member of CANsurvive, a support group here in Busselton that is affiliated to CSWA, just how supportive they have been in helping our support group get off to a flying start here within our community. Despite living in a regional area, hundreds of kilometres from Perth, Cancer Support WA offer training for our facilitators, workshops to our region, advice & support for the projects we run & a helping hand whenever we need it. It’s yet another way that Cancer Support WA provide access to all they have on offer to people with cancer and their families in regional areas.

If you are able to help me to raise funds to support the diversity of work that Cancer Support WA provides, please do so by giving whatever you can. Not only will I appreciate it but also the thousands of people who currently use their programs & services & the thousands who will use it in the future.

My gratitude & blessings to you,

Karen