Cheyann Shaw dedicated her life to the pursuit of ultimate fitness, competing in bikini competitions and hitting the gym in every spare hour of the day.
The 23-year-old had reached her peak when devastatingly found out that she’d been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.
Now, as she watches the muscles she’d worked so hard for lose definition as each day goes by, she’s bravely sharing her story, “poop bag” and all, in a bid to spread positivity and hope that even in the darkest of times, light and love can see you through.
“When I was first diagnosed, I was scared, but it went away quickly. I knew that I had no choice but to fight. I wasn’t going to let cancer win,” Cheyann told People magazine of her August diagnosis, which was made after the discovery of a pelvic lump in conjunction with stomach pain.
“I also knew that my husband and family need me and there is no way I am leaving them. So that is when I put my boxing gloves on and got in the ring to knock cancer out.”
She wasted no time, starting chemotherapy right away and undergoing a five and a half hour surgery in October where doctors removed her spleen, appendix, section of her colon and performed a full hysterectomy.
Through all of this, Cheyann has kept her smile and her fight – “this is the toughest battle I have and will ever face, but I know I can do it,” she admits that she changes to her figure have been the hardest to come to terms with.
“It was tough to see all my muscle and hard work disappear. It is still tough for me to see my old pictures when I was fit and had a ton of muscle—it is a struggle for me,” says the bikini competitor, who dropped from 59kg to 46kgs in just 13 days after surgery.
“I know looks aren’t everything, but when you spend years working and building your body to the best it can be, it’s hard to see it all just vanish.”
While the newlywed’s battle continues – she’ll undergo chemotherapy to eradicate the cancer that’s spread to her lymph nodes for the next year – Cheyann keeps her focus on staying strong and “learning to love myself again”.
“Cancer has taken so much from me. The body I worked so hard for 2 years to get, the ability to have and carry my own child, my hair, and so much more, but one thing for sure is that cancer has not taken my fight and faith.
“I will never stop fighting. I will never lose my faith. I will never let cancer win.”
