A local cancer survivor who has regained full health after being told her diagnosis was terminal has told her story in a book.
In 2012, Lizzie Emery, 69, from the Richmond area, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
Her chemotherapy was described as “palliative only”, however eight years on she says she has regained her full health and strength.
In her book, Shout it From the Rooftops – A Terminal Cancer Healing, Lizzie describes what she calls “her journey of self-healing”.
The author said: “This book has been written to help others who find themselves without warning in a wilderness of fear and the unknown, where there are no signposts, and where the people to whom you turn for help on the way do not always know what to say, or make it clear that they believe you cannot possibly get to where you wish to go.”
Lizzie describes her cancer experience in terms of a “journey or pilgrimage”.
She added: “The book is full of tips on lifestyle and ways to enhance physical, mental and spiritual well-being; how to deal with toxic people and events such as a phone message enquiring about your prognosis, being given a book of poems on death, or a disappointing scan result.”
Lizzie said she does not pretend that the journey was easy or the outcome clear.
Instead, she said she aimed to show how those who set out with faith and determination could reach their goal.
At the same time; she said she encouraged loved ones and professional health workers to help cancer sufferers see beyond a dire prognosis and to support them with hope and love.
Shout it From the Rooftops – A Terminal Cancer Healing by Lizzie Emery will be launched at Castle Hill Bookshop in Richmond from 11am to 12pm on November 14.
