My Story

"A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep"

In 1979 I was diagnosed with a large malignant Fibrous Sarcoma. The Cancer was present during a pregnancy but was only fully diagnosed six weeks after the baby was born. By then it had infiltrated my reproductive organs and had grown down into my left leg and entangled itself in major blood vessels. I was nineteen years old at the time.

After extensive surgery and several months of radiation treatment, the Cancer appeared to have gone into remission. A couple of years passed, before my health began to deteriorate again. Several tests followed, which revealed the existence of another mass 7 cm x 3 cm, in close proximity to the original tumour.

The complexities of the original tumour had severely damaged soft tissue and muscle. Due to this my doctor's came to the conclusion that the newly diagnosed tumour was inoperable. More radiation followed which didn't seem to be having the desired effect. My Oncologist and Radiologist, Dr. Alan Nelson suggested I see an associate of his Dr. John Holt about a treatment he was trialling.

Dr. Holt's Treatment was then referred to as the Tronado treatment (more about the origin of Tronado are available at wikipedia.org/Tronado_machine) a great deal of controversy surrounded the treatment then, as it does today. I commenced Radiowave Treatment with Dr. Holt in the early eighties. Coupled with an enormous amount of prayer my tumour began shrinking and I began to recover.

I have been so blessed to have lived long enough to see my children grow up and become responsible adults. Only a mother who has faced death would appreciate what this feels like, there are no words to describe it! Despite the negative prognosis at such a young age and a very long and tedious recovery process which still continues today. I managed to build successful businesses which now allow me to live a very comfortable life in semi-retirement in Perth, Western Australia.

My final goal before I can put my ordeal to rest is to write 'My Story'. My aim is to have my book published in 2009. This will mark the 30th anniversary of my life with Cancer. My story however, will be so much more than my struggle with Cancer. I've learnt to make excellent use of what little I have been given. One of my favourite sayings would have to be, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". It would be so easy to sit back and do nothing when life deals you a bad hand! On the contrary, every obstacle should be viewed as a chance for new growth and development, and every one of life's challenges transformed into a valuable tool, to enrich our lives and the lives of others. If we fail to achieve this then we have suffered in vain.

Continuing on the premise, lemons are not so bad after all; less is more; an oak from a tiny acorn grows or the parable of Jesus about the tiny mustard seed, insignificant in size, and yet has the potential to grow and be greater than all other herbs. One has to conclude that all we need to succeed is a little. That's, right, 'a little'. The world around us is filled with vibrant, vivid colour and yet there are only three primary colours, red, yellow and blue. Every poem, every speech, every novel, every text has been written using just twenty six letters of the alphabet.

How about music? I am not an expert, but I believe just eight musical notes, produce a plethora of music. Music which calms us, excites us, and romanticises us. Are you getting the picture? It's hard to contemplate that we can create so much from so little. When we begin to use the little we have, we automatically create more; it's as natural as breathing.

With this in mind, it's back, to me and my story, when you're sick it has a significant impact on your ability to earn money, because you don't have one of the most basic of abilities most take for granted, the ability to have a normal job. The magnitude of which would only become apparent in my thirties and forties. In my early forties, it was time to re-evaluate my goals. My new goal was to become a self-made millionaire in less than five years, impossible? Even I thought so, did I do it? You'll have to wait for the book!

The other opportunity I've had the pleasure of applying the theory of "less is more" to is a very apparent lack of education. I was born in India and that's where I spent my early childhood. My father died the year I turned thirteen. Just over a year later I was brought to Australia and found myself looking for work to support myself. By Australian standards I never attended High School, and never finished Primary School. That didn't stop me from having a burning desire to go to University and one day finish my education.

In my thirties I was finally well enough to undertake this task and sit for my entrance exams. The day before my English exam I was unquestionably nervous, I stood quietly in a queue waiting for the Bank to open, when an old man of European origin came and stood alongside me and told me about how good things were back in the 'good old days' I listened intently drawing parallels to the struggles faced by those of us unfortunate enough to be sick and raising a family during "the recession we had to have".

The next day as I opened my exam paper the first topic listed in the multiple choice questions was in fact "The good old days", I wrote everything the old man told me, and scored an above average mark for that year. Not bad I thought for someone with little reading and writing skills. The rest as they say is history, since then my whole life is filled with books and learning. I believe the clique is "life long learner", I think its lacking passion and should read "life long love of learning"!

As for the Cancer I believe it is not a disease that can be fought just on a physical level, there are deep seated fears associated with the disease, which affect you psychologically, and emotionally. As with most things in life, that determine success or failure there are always many factors involved. I believe surviving cancer is no different. In my case it was my faith in Jesus, determination to live for my children and Radiowave treatment which proved successful. In other words I always maintained a holistic approach to the disease.

My hope is that by sharing my story I will continue to receive healing and in the process if someone, somewhere in this big, wide, wonderful world, can draw strength from my story, muster up the courage to face their demons. Grab that dream and live long enough to tell their own story, then for me it would have been all worth it.

God bless and keep believing!

Cheryl Mason.

disclaimer