Hamiltonian Amanda Shanley was diagnosed in May with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, and is shaving her head to fundraise for a cure on November 2. Photo / Malisha Kumar
Hamiltonian Amanda Shanley was diagnosed in May with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, and is shaving her head to fundraise for a cure on November 2. Photo / Malisha Kumar
From yoga and gym four times a week to hospital wards and chemotherapy, Hamiltonian Amanda Shanley, 60, never imagined she’d be among the one in eight Kiwis that are diagnosed with a form of blood cancer every day.
But in May, after a netball injury landed her in hospital, she received a life-changing diagnosis that rocked her and her family’s world forever: she had multiple myeloma, a form of cancer affecting plasma cells in the bone marrow.
“People still can’t believe I’ve got multiple myeloma, they say I still look like the healthiest person ... There were no signs, so that’s why I want to raise awareness.”
Shanley said she had always been an active person and she used to play netball before damaged ligaments in her knee caused her to have a break from the sport.
In May this year, after 18 years, she decided to make a return to the netball court.
“I had a pull to go to netball that day. My husband and mother told me I shouldn’t, but I was so adamant on going, it was bizarre.”
Shanley said she was a spiritual person and believed it was her “spirits, angels, and dad who passed away 20 years ago looking out” for her.
During the seventh minute of an eight-minute game, she had got to the goal line when she suddenly felt like somebody had shot her. She fell to the floor and landed in an unfortunate position, breaking her arm in several places.
At the hospital, she realised it was her “lucky break”: due to abnormal blood tests prior to the six-hour surgery for her arm, the doctors detected the cancer.
Shanley said she felt lucky, because if her injury hadn’t required surgery she wouldn’t have known about the cancer so quickly.
Soon afterwards, it became clear the cancer had spread to her head: she had a tumour at the back of her skull.
Doctors told her the average lifespan for people with this type of cancer was 10 years but it could be more - or less.
Amanda Shanley said her husband Mark has been her "rock" since she was diagnosed with blood cancer. Photo / Malisha Kumar
The “life-changing diagnosis” not only caused the family to cancel their holiday trip to the UK, it also turned all their lives upside down.
Shanley said it was a lot to process. For days she thought doctors had made a mistake.
“My first fear was how do I tell my son, my daughter, my mum, and brother ... that was one of the worst things to do.
“I kept thinking ‘I’m gonna die’ and ‘I can’t leave them’, it was horrendous.
“My daughter, she said, ‘Mum, you said you’d be here for my children’ ... it was heartbreaking.”
To support her, her son who lived in Whakatāne, moved back to Hamilton.
“My husband Mark has been my rock. He left work to help me and even got trained on how to give my injections to me himself.”
Looking ahead, now that she has come to terms with her diagnosis, Shanley said she was not scared of dying.
“I’m scared of not living.
“The minute you’re born you start to die, which sounds crazy but it’s true. Life is so precious and me being a nurse, I see how precious it is and how it can all be wiped away.
“I never wanted to do the ‘Why me’ because it’s not about that. It’s not a blame game, it’s just what’s happened and the cards have been dealt with and I’m going to deal with it the best that I can.
“One thing I do know is that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow, so let’s bring it on and get this treatment going so I can be back to living my life.”
She calls herself a “myeloma warrior woman” as she prepares for the upcoming “shitty round of chemotherapy”, where she’ll lose all hair.
Amanda Shanley with her 13-year-old dog Harry. Photo / Malisha Kumar
On Saturday, she will participate in Shave for a Cure, the fundraiser for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand, and take matters into her own hands.
“I love [my hair], so it is a big thing for me. I’m a bit scared but the thought of being in hospital in a situation that’s already out of my control, and waking up and seeing my hair on the pillow falling out, I thought, ‘no’.
“It’s going to be hard, just one of those things that feel worse as it gets nearer, but doing it this way is where I have control.”
Shanley said she would continue to keep fighting the cancer for as long as possible.
“I promised my kids and told them I can’t wait to be a grandma. My son has two stepkids and now he and his partner are talking about having their own baby ... I just want to be around for as long as I can.”
