SASKATOON (Staff) – She was supposed to be dead. But six years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Laura Evans climbed the highest mountain in South America.
The American woman survived surgery, radiation, chemo-therapy and a bone marrow transplant that required her to live in a little closet of a room for eight weeks with no human contact. When she left cured, she walked through the park she had watched through her hospital window.
“The sky was bluer, flowers were more beautiful. … I would no longer take my health for granted – or anything.” She keeps a plaque on her kitchen wall that reads “the most wasted day is one where you don’t laugh.”
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Three years ago she founded a group called Expedition Inspiration that takes breast cancer survivors mountain climbing, while also raising funds for medical research. The group plans a major climb every other year and in December will be tackling the highest mountain in Antarctica.
In her message to a recent breast cancer survivors conference, she said women should always be hopeful. But they should also take an active part in their survival. She advised outside activity and daily exercise. Evans takes vitamins and calcium supplements daily to strengthen her immune system. Rest, exercise, diet, stress and one’s mental state are factors that can affect the body’s natural defences. “If you get a few of those out of whack, then you’ll get sick.”
Evans also warned the cancer survivors to stop feeling guilty about being sick. She doesn’t believe in holding negative emotions like anger and guilt for long and urged women to “lighten up on yourselves.”
