Dear family and friends,

Please help raise funds to give me the gift of my lifetime - a beautiful glass photographic portrait of myself by world-renowned portrait and fashion photographer Robbie Merritt - and support the work of an incredible local charity - Cancer Support WA.

Please show your support by sponsoring my portrait.

Thank you,

Sharon Nicole Evans

MY STORY

I am a breast cancer survivor. The year that I fought my battle with breast cancer was the most difficult time of my life but it was equally the most confronting and life-changing experience that I have ever been through. I recall the months on end that I stared at the ceiling because I was too sick and paralyzed to move, sleeping the days away, listening to soothing tunes, trying to get into a novel, or anything for that matter. I felt the pain and agony of wanting my life back, but knowing I had a long battle ahead.Then not knowing who I would be at the end of all this. So here’s my story…

On December the 2^nd, I was diagnosed with an aggressive Grade 3 triple negative breast cancer. With no family history of breast cancer, knowing nobody who had experienced this, I had no idea what to expect. I was working fulltime as an Assistant Principal and class teacher and always had been extremely career orientated, so hearing this news immediately alerted me to what that would mean to my job. I was told to expect to lose 12-18 months out of my career in order to fight this and become the survivor that I am today.

I had a lumpectomy in January 2011 to remove the tumour, but pathology discovered another tumour so a second surgery was scheduled to remove this tumour. Pathology showed that the tumour was a multi-focal cancer which meant it could grow anywhere in isolation. With this news, I had further surgery to have a total left mastectomy and my lymph nodes removed. Following this I was to have two courses of chemotherapy over six months. I also had scans, MRI’s and numerous tests to assess two rectal lesions that they discovered on my CT scan.

My beautiful long hair began to fall out two weeks into having my chemotherapy treatment and as I found more hair on my pillow each morning, I decided to cut my hair short, then one night I ran my fingers through my hair and I had a hand full of hair, so much hair falling out everywhere, so I asked my hubby to shave it off. Eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared, toenails fell off, fingernails began lifting, fingertips numbed, my eyes, mouth and skin were dry and my bones ached.

I remember the weekly trips to get blood tests and how hard it became to get into those veins. I arrived at my third chemotherapy and it took three times to find a vein to place the catheter into. My veins were tiny, blowing out when needles were inserted and so sore, so I went in and had a procedure where a tube was inserted in my right upper arm and guided directly to the heart with a port to insert the chemo into my body.

Chemotherapy attacks everything in your body. It also affects your bones, which for me constantly ached. Tests showed that my bone density was low and as a result, I would self-inject a large needle into my stomach every three weeks to counteract the effects of chemo on my bones. These injections alone were $400 each and not covered under the PBS, so this dug a deep hole into our pockets, as did a lot of procedures and meds.

Once my chemo was over, I had more surgery as genetics testing showed that my cancer is possibly genetically related but with results for the BRCA gene being inconclusive, it is likely that cancer will come to the right breast and the ovaries, in fact anywhere in my body. I chose to have a right mastectomy, further lymph nodes removed and reconstructive surgery. I am soon to have my ovaries removed, as I am now menopausal due to early onset from chemotherapy.

A complete tumultuous ride that spanned well over a year had ended at a complete and sudden halt. Surgery, treatment and medical consult had ceased. I was on my own, I had to pick up my life and start over again. It was during this time of darkness that I felt most alone, most confused and extremely disconnected. For it was at this time that I despised the word 'survivor' the most, like I had been on an incredible 'journey' and made it through some great experience. I sure didn't feel like it. I also had no idea how I was to persist and carry on with my life now that I was a completely different person. We were also struggling to make ends meet financially due to the exorbitant medical bills over the past year so sadly, we said good bye to our beautiful family home and downsized to lower our mortgage.

When a friend described me as “looking great” and “you must be happy it's all over so you can get on with your life”, I realised that I was lost. I really didn't know how to move forward from this point. I was no longer a patient, my cancer had gone but I didn't feel any better. It was at this time that I finally broke down and I cried for the first time, thinking and remembering all the things I had endured over the last 12 months. My oncologist prescribed anti-depressants and I spent several months working with a counsellor who guided me along a path of renewal and rediscovery. I knew I had changed and I knew that the life I led prior to cancer was most definitely a life I didn’t want to go back to for I had learnt that it was me that mattered, my family and friends and that there were so many things I wanted to do in my life. When you teeter at the edge of uncertainty of life, you really learn to appreciate so many little things like the beautiful colours to be found in a bunch of flowers, the taste of different foods, the difference a smile can make to how people feel and the power you can have on the lives of other people. You become stronger, braver and a go-getter.

Why should it take a challenge to our survival for us to give ourselves permission to really live? For too many years, I had been wrapped up in my career, climbing the ladder, making more money, working more hours and losing sight of the crazy, fun and sassy side of me. Cancer has given me the opportunity to trade in the ‘excuses’ for the ‘why-the-hell-nots!’

Today, I wake each morning with happiness in my heart, and a will to go out and make the most of my day. I say ‘why-the-hell-not’ more often, because there is only one chance that we get at this rollercoaster ride of a life in which we live. That’s why I say that cancer has given me my life back. I am stronger, happier and more willing to fight for anything that I want in my life. I am happy, surrounded by people I love and supported in anything that I want to do. 

Thank you,

Sharon Evans