Forever changed
How Shelly Sheldon’s victory over breast cancer made her stronger than ever
Shelly Sheldon walked in to the Recorder office Thursday morning, and despite the chilliness outside, she greeted everyone with a brilliant smile.
Sheldon is a breast cancer survivor and was not shy to share her story of how being faced with a such scary experience changed her life for the better.
“I had no lump, no symptoms, nothing. My mom had breast cancer at age 60, and because of that I had early mammograms,” Sheldon stated.
When asked how the journey of discovering she had cancer began, Sheldon described a case of weird coincidence that led her to the doctors office.
“I was listening to satellite radio and that tennis player — Martina Navratilova — she had breast cancer and she was on every channel I’d listen to,” said Sheldon. “I’d change the channel and there she’d be, telling her story. Finally I thought, ‘She’s talking to me.’ So I made an appointment and I went and they put me in the machine. All of a sudden the lady stopped and left the room and then [when she returned] she said we have to do diagnostics.”
Sheldon, a soft spoken yet bold and confident woman, was not expecting to receive that information.
“I was stunned because I hardly ever get a cold. I had never been sick, never been hospitalized, nothing,” Sheldon said. “But is was micro-calcification, little cells coming together, so it wasn’t like it was a big tumor or lump that you could feel.”
Upon receiving the news, Sheldon explained that she didn’t quite know how to feel about it.
“It was all surreal like, ‘Really? I have cancer?’ I couldn’t believe it,” she stated.
Once the news became a reality for Sheldon, she had to face some tough decisions.
“I had a 7-year-old and an 11-yearold and I just thought, ‘I can’t die.’ It was just a really scary thing,” stated Sheldon. “The doctor thought I should have a mastectomy, but I didn’t want to.”
Sheldon stood firm in all of her decisions as she faced multiple rounds of treatment.
“Because I had triple negative cancer, which is a more aggressive kind, they don’t understand it as well as hormonal breast cancers, so the only treatment is chemo,” she said. “I did four rounds of chemo and I did about six and a half weeks of radiation.”
All of the treatments Sheldon was
Live. Don’t hold back. That’s what I tell other women that are going through it. This is going to change you, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. SHELLY SHELDON Breast cancer survivor
going through caused physical changes to her body.
“My mom shaved my head like I had shaved hers,” Sheldon explained. She stated that not only was the hair on her head falling out, but her eyelashes and eyebrows also disappeared toward the end of her battle with breast cancer.
Even after successfully finishing her chemotherapy, Sheldon expressed that her body wasn’t completely back to its original state.
“There’s a lot with cancer that they don’t tell you, like some of the side effects you’re going to have,” she said. “Even after you’re done with chemo, a whole lot of other things start happening to your body as you start coming back to life, like joint stiffness and pain.”
Eight years later, Sheldon is back to her normal daily routines but sees life through different eyes.
“It actually made me enjoy life more after the fact. It’s a crazy thing how something horrible can bring good out of your life,” she stated.
She’s also grown into her courage and strength after being shy and reserved.
“Cancer gives you the boldness to say whatever you want to other people. I don’t have to tiptoe around cancer with people; I just bluntly say it, and I think they appreciate that,” Sheldon stated. “I can offer support in a way that I don’t have to walk on eggshells. I can say that I did it, I’ve been through it and I made it out the other side.”
Sheldon’s smile never faded and her positive energy radiated throughout the room as she shared some words of wisdom for other woman who are facing the same battles as she did.
“Live. Don’t hold back,” Sheldon encouraged. “That is what I tell other women that are going through it. This is going to change you and that is not necessarily a bad thing.”