Sam was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2009 when she was 37 years old and had two young children.
For Sam, her biggest fear was that cancer would change her relationship with her children who were three and seven at the time. “I didn’t want cancer to define me as a mother, to be always known as the ‘sick-mummy’. This is just a small piece of my history but not everything about me. I wanted my children get to know me as “Sam” the person.”
She explains she didn’t just want to be seen as a mother, but also as a friend to her children as they grew up and worried that due to her cancer, this would not be possible.
“I was petrified that my role as a mother would be prematurely ended.”
“What really scared me was the fear that I would never get to have that adult-adult relationship with my kids in the future that I saw others around me having.”
“I remember going to a café and seeing an elderly lady having morning tea with her daughter and just hoping that I would get the chance to do that with my daughter too one day.”
Sam underwent surgery to remove her uterus and then a radical hysterectomy as well as the removal of her lymph nodes. Learning that the cancer hadn’t spread any further was “the best Christmas present.”
Sam now lives in Brisbane with her two beautiful children, Gabi and Aidan.
“I never wanted cancer to define me as a Mother,” she says. This Mother’s Day ACCF acknowledges all the women who are Mums- whether they are biological or not. We are celebrating the wonder that is Motherhood and saying thanks to the women who have shaped our lives.
To read more about Sam please visit her story on the Faces of Cervical Cancer website.
