Dancing her way to the Race for Life finishing line
STACEY CHEERED HERSELF AND OTHERS UP WITH MOVES DURING CANCER CARE
WHEN dance teacher Stacey Chetwyn was having treatment for cervical cancer, she entertained herself and other patients by strutting her stuff around the ward at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Now the 36-year-old mum is looking forward to dancing over the Race for Life finish line with her two sisters.
Stacey, a part-time teacher at Triple Threat dance academy in Syston, who also works as an administrator for a pharmaceutical company, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September 2020.
She said: “No-one was with me when I was told I had cervical cancer. I was devastated as we had been planning to have another baby.
“Now I was wondering if I was even going to live. The world came crashing down around me.”
She was offered a clinical trial of a new medication but opted for standard treatment as she “just wanted it to be over”.
In November 2020, Stacey started chemotherapy with the drug Cisplatin followed by five days of radiotherapy.
Stacey said: “During chemo I started getting short of breath and feeling really tired.
“That fatigue has stayed with me, but I continued to work when I could, because I didn’t want the cancer to take control of my life.”
Coping with children Niall, now eight, and Louie, four, became increasingly difficult.
But Stacey never lost the urge to dance. She started a video diary to keep friends up to date with her progress and posted videos of herself dancing around the hospital.
She said: “I’m a natural born performer and it makes me happy to dance. For me, the best way to look at it was that cancer was just one more show that I had to get through.
“I love cheering other people up with my moves and it makes me feel better in myself.”
In April 2021, Stacey was told she was in remission. She will continue to be regularly monitored for five years.
Stacey and her sisters Vanessa and Sarah will be taking part in the Race for Life Pretty Muddy event at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham on July 30.
Meanwhile, Race for Life Leicester takes place in Victoria Park on July 24.
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