Cancer: My Journey Thus Far

First of all I would like to apologise to all my dear ones who did not have this news. As you can imagine this last period of time has been very busy. I have been to a seemingly endless marathon of medical appointments each with more shocking news than the last. It has been a personal crisis, a turning point: the kind of which necessitates an appraisal of ones attitudes, beliefs, hopes and dreams. Life is short.

I have received a diagnosis of stage four colorectal cancer with one primary tumour in my colon and four small tumours in my liver. I have been managing very well, with the support of my family. I am happy to be home in Sydney, soaking up the winter sunshine and eating a pile of vegetables.

The last six months have been quite exhausting but now, post crisis, I am feeling positive and optimistic. I have had five cycles of chemotherapy so far. I tried out fasting whilst on the chemo and I had an excellent response as far as tumour shrinkage and reduced side effects. Article here:

https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/

I feel fortunate to be surrounded by really great natural health professionals and medical doctors and nurses. The below photo is of myself and my new mate Megan in the hospital chemo ward.

These little guys are called T Cells. They are responsible for destroying nasties in the body including cancer cells. I’ve been visualising an army of them coursing through my blood stream reaching every one of my cells. My immune system is strong and healthy again.

I have been busking to raise money for the treatment and have experienced an outpouring of well wishes, kind gestures and heart felt support from complete strangers. I was a little rusty at the time as had not had the energy to practice for many months and I was just so relieved to be playing again!

It is a very moving experience to mingle with the public under these circumstances. Everybody is affected by cancer at some stage in their lives, we are not alone as we have each other. A kind stranger left this note in my case one day:

My beautiful friend Suwindi has offered to run a fundraising campaign for me throughout August and September to help pay for my expenses.

https://chuffed.org/project/eliza-jaye-cancer-treatment

I chose to have IVF egg harvesting as the chemo is damaging my fertility. I have had numerous MRIs and CTs paid for independently. Specialists appointments are often partly paid for by Medicare/ NHS but there is a gap. I attended a 5 day workshop at the Quest for life centre ‘Living Mindfully With Cancer’ which has been an incredibly useful resource. Hospital fees, blood tests, anaesthetists.. Oh.. it just adds up and suddenly you’re in thousands of dollars debt!

Some of you may have been wondering what I’ve done with my van. Well.. I shipped it to Australia! I can see it every day in my parents car port. Dad and I have done some carpentry on it and it is running sweetly and purring like a kitten. I just can’t wait to get back on the road and have more adventures! Tasmania is my next intended destination where I plan to get my forthcoming album mastered with an engineer I’m keen to work with there.

The show I did in the UK last December was a great success. I bid farewell to my beautiful friends, colleagues and supporters and had a really fun night. Half of my adult life has been spent in the UK and it was difficult to leave. Equally I feel that I have made the right decision. I now have two little nieces in Australia to play auntie to and I can make up for lost time with my dear mum and dad.

Image Chris Sheffield

Please feel free to leave messages at the bottom of this post and follow my blog if you would like to keep up to date. I am being very careful to manage my stress levels at this fragile time and apologise if I am unable to respond. I am thinking of you all with much affection.

Eliza xx