Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/85232
achieve anything you set your mind to. We created the Giggles Educare Early FROM THIS. I'VE FOUND AN INNER STRENGTH IN ME THAT I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD." GROWN "I'VE there to help raise my son as I've known since I was 15 that I'd be a businesswoman. I remember clearly as a 14-year-old, a family member telling me I'd be nothing and no one would want me. He was very disapproving of being pregnant at my age. That day I looked at him and thought, I'll be a businesswoman one day. And that was it. My children are now aged 26, 21, 12, 7, 5 and 4 years old. I went back to school in 1994 and did my business papers at Business Management School to show my children that no matter where you are in life you can Learning Centre in 2005 and now we are New Zealand's first webcam centre. We've got cameras inside and outside the centre so parents can login from home or work and be a part of their child's day. In 2008 we launched our second business, Show Off Advertising & Security and in 2007 Oscar Rocks; a before and after school and holiday programme in Te Puke came along. Everything seemed to be going perfectly when I found a lump in my left breast while in the shower in February 2011 and my doctor quickly confirmed my suspicion of breast cancer. Everyone that I loved that had cancer died from it... my mum, both grandparents on both sides, aunties, uncles, cousins and friends. People would say 'Oh, you've had a haircut' and I would have to tell them 'no I have cancer'. There's a lot of fear associated with that C word. I thought I was the only one but there's so many like me out there. I put this down to the lack of education on my behalf. Once I was educated about cancer I was amazed at the amount of survivors there were and the treatment available. The people I knew that died from cancer was far less than the amount of people I met who had survived. My journey wasn't about the fight; it was about accepting and going with it. I couldn't change what was out of my control and I was too busy to be sick. Anyone who knows me knows I'm always full on and flat out. Now that I'm in the clear I can say that I wouldn't change a thing. When I was first diagnosed, of course I didn't want it but now that I'm at the other end of my journey I reflect and am grateful for the most humbling experience of my life. I've grown from this. I've found an inner strength in me that I didn't know I had. People all around have benefited from The Big C in my life and I've met so many amazing people along the way. And not only others with cancer but their husbands, children, family and friends too. I hit the big 40 this year and now I'm writing a memoir of what makes me tick. The idea for the book started by my children asking what my mother was like their grandmother. I started reflecting and I had real difficulty to tell them much about her. I didn't want my grandchildren or children to be the same with me. So I'm writing a book now so they'll know who I am. It's hard knowing what to put in and what to leave out. For certain I will tell them that cancer is not a death sentence, it is one of life's challenges. Shona Ua Marsh What's helped me cope too is leading a normal family life… to keep routines as normal as possible… the kids enjoyed that. Susan C. Breast Cancer fighter