Popular social media star and bodybuilder 23-year-old Cheyann Shaw has been a fitness enthusiast for almost three years now. Her social media pages are filled with clips and photographs of her fitness journey. However, she is now documenting something else entirely.
Shaw was diagnosed with stage 4 low-grade serous ovarian cancer in August 2016, shortly before her wedding day. This form of cancer grows slowly but stubbornly, is rare, and often resistant to chemotherapy.
Soon after, she started her chemotherapy sessions. In the four months since then, she realised that the treatment was failing. She subsequently filmed the moment she shaved her head, and shared it on YouTube.
Even after rigorous surgery during which her reproductive organs, spleen, appendix, part of her colon, and an abdominal tumor the size of a small beach ball were removed, Shaw was informed that her lymph nodes still carried the cancer.
From a 130-pound bodybuilder to a 102-pound cancer patient, she has actively shared her journey and believes that having cancer “doesn’t mean you stop living”.
The cancer was diagnosed at a time when she was getting ready for her bodybuilding competitions, and effectively put a stop to her preparations. She found a lump on her abdomen in June, which was initially dismissed by her OB/Gyn as a probable muscle injury. By the next month, she was a regular at the emergency room with sharp pains.
She eventually moved from Florida to Washington State so that she could be near her family and doctors.
In the quest to show her viewers ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ about ovarian cancer, Shaw has become an inspiration for many. As she unabashedly posted a photograph showing her post-surgery stomach, her drive to battle this rare disease became clearer.
She hopes to return to bodybuilding to restore her body to its former glory, once the disease is completely beaten.
(With inputs from The Washington Post)
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