My Story

Unfortunately all of us either have a family member or know someone who has cancer, has had cancer or died from cancer.  I have always lived a healthy lifestyle, have never drunk alcohol or smoked cigarettes nor partaken of recreational drugs, so I naturally thought, I would never have life threatening cancer. I initially ignored the first signs that I could be sick because I was simply too busy and kept working. We all think we are bullet proof and never stop to consider that perhaps something sinister is growing inside of us. I was experiencing severe constipation and initially thought I would try colonic irrigation because I believed in alternative health practices to compliment traditional medicine. When the second session did nothing to alleviate the problem I knew that I needed to visit my GP. Like a number of people I was little embarrassed telling my Doctor that I felt like my entire bowel was blocked. He examined me and immediately arranged for me to see a specialist. The specialist arranged for me to have a colonoscopy within days of my initial Doctors appointment. My eldest son Daniel drove me to the hospital and ideally if everything went well would come back and pick me up a few hours later. I will always remember the look of fear and anguish in his eyes when I had to tell him I had cancer. Typing this now the tears are rolling down my face as the memories come flooding back. My son has always had a maturity beyond his years, however that day he amazed me. 

I was diagnosed in December 2000 with advanced bowel cancer that had spread from my bowel into my ovaries and also into a couple of lymph nodes. I was diagnosed on a Friday and operated on the Saturday and commenced chemotherapy early February.

I had a long and difficult battle against my cancer and survived seven weeks in palliative care halfway through my treatment, thanks to Prof Joseph from Sir Charles Gardner Hospital. I don’t want to focus on that aspect because each person’s journey through the turmoil of cancer is personal.  I want this to be a positive story full of inspiration and hope. What I will say is that never once did I think or accept that I may not survive. I would endure any form of treatment and continue fighting this insidious disease as leaving my beloved sons without their mother was not an option. I firmly believe that the mind plays an important role in survival. If I had of believed the Oncologist who said to me at my first visit “Ms Clarke it is highly unlikely that you will survive”, I would not be here today.

2011 was a very difficult year for me both professionally and personally, I had no balance in my life. At the beginning of 2012, I had made the changes necessary for me to be able to say each and every day that I am blessed.  A first step was to recommence my exercise regime that had consisted of daily two hour beach walks and naturally the balance started returning to my life. A chance comment at my birthday dinner in March 2012 about a group of woman walking the Kokoda track igniting my interest. That night I googled Kokoda and decided to embark on an adventure that would confront a number of long held fears, limitations and would challenge me both physically and mentally. I found a website of a company that has been set up to arrange a number of adventures that raise funds for numerous charities. Everything then fell into place in that it just happened to be the 70^th anniversary of Kokoda and Cure Cancer Australia’s charity fundraiser coincided with the Fuzzy Wuzzy Day celebrations. I successfully trekked Kokoda with an amazing group of people and together we shared an amazing adventure that was at times gruelling and challenging. The positives besides the fact that I now know I can face any challenge I am confronted with  is the friendships we formed and that the funds we raised will fund a researcher for 9 months. We were humbled walking in the footsteps of the diggers on Kokoda and the unspoilt beauty of the track needs to been seen. Our porters and the Villagers we met were awesome and very welcoming.

Just after I signed up to walk Kokoda my girlfriend Jill whose husband Justin had died of bowel cancer in 2011 was diagnosed with bowel cancer. This was devastating news however Jill is one of the most courageous gutsy women I know and we talked positively about her recovery. To give her incentive to fight I talked about my upcoming Kokoda adventure and suggested that the following year we would climb the Great Wall of China to raise funds for a charity. She said yes if I agreed to climb the harbour bridge with her. I agreed but stated I am terrified of heights. I have numerous acquaintances and only a few friends because I am prepared to do whatever is humanly possible for my friends as they are unique and special and an integral part of my life. We climbed the bridge on Australia Day 2013 and two other friends joined us on the climb. The prospect of the challenge to climb the Bridge gave Jill strength whilst undergoing her chemotherapy and radiation. Two weeks out of chemotherapy and radiation we were doing Indoor Rock Wall climbing in an attempt to overcome our fear of heights. Five weeks out of chemotherapy and radiation we walked the city to surf in two hours. I decided that I would encourage our little group of four, three having had cancer to do an adventure every month. We climbed the Harbour Bridge on Australia Day and now Jill and I are planning to learn to abseil so we can abseil down the West Point tower in Sydney, think it may become a fund raising event.

Since my recovery from cancer and my remission I have always considered myself to be a cancer survivor however no more. My girlfriend Fran who successfully beat breast cancer in 2011 put it into perspective. She said “I had cancer now I don’t” a statement that clearly shows strength, determination and is a positive affirmation. 

Thank you for reading my story. 

Thank you,

Beverly Clarke