Shawn Chancey returned from a weekend of scrapbooking with her friends the week before Thanksgiving 2011 to her home on Ansonia’s Hilltop when she made a disconcerting discovery: a lump in one of her breasts.
She suspected the worst immediately.
Less than a week later, a radiologist confirmed her fears.
Four surgeries over the course of two years and four months of chemotherapy ensued — replete with complications like an infection that sent her back to the hospital.
“Hell exists. I’ve been there,” Chancey said matter-of-factly Tuesday, describing her fight against cancer. “During my treatment I couldn’t do much of anything besides vomit. And vomit. And sleep.”
But throughout the ordeal, Chancey was confident she’d conquer her illness.
On the morning of her first chemo treatment, she recalls taking a piece of paper as she walked out the door and writing a personalized message to the disease early on during her treatment.
“Dear Cancer,” she wrote. “I AM going to kick your ass.”
And she did — Chancey has been in remission for the past two years.
After her battle against cancer, Chancey, who works as a dental receptionist in Milford, became involved at the Southport-based Center For Survivorship, a place for survivors to exercise, learn about nutrition, and participate in other programs centered around the disease.
But such a description hardly does the center justice, Chancey said.
“You have to walk through the doors to know,” she said. “It’s just a place of serenity and peace. There’s nothing like it. I can’t explain it. Everybody embraces you.”
It’s a special place, she said, because it draws together people who have gone through their own personal ordeals with cancer.
“Everybody who walks through the door has been through the same thing,” Chancey said. “We all know it. We all get it.”
To those who have never seen cancer close-up it might be hard to relate to someone who has.
“Everybody on the other side, they don’t know what to say or what to do or how to act,” Chancey recalled form her own battle against cancer. “They feel sorry for you, and you don’t want people to feel sorry for you. At the center everybody gets it.”
The center is funded by the Connecticut Challenge, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower cancer survivors to live healthier, happier, and longer lives.
Connecticut Challenge Bike Ride
The group’s largest source of funds is an annual bicycle ride in Westport.
Last year, her trainer at the Center for Survivorship suggested she participate in the ride.
The event runs over the course of two days, including a 100-mile trek from Lakeville on Friday. Saturday’s event in Westport gives riders the option to ride 10, 25, 50, 75, or 100 miles.
“I said there’s no way I could do 10 miles,” Chancey recalled. “Maybe next year.”
She did volunteer at the 2013 event, though, and witnessing the powerful event convinced her to participate this year.
She volunteered with some friends she had met through the center. One of their jobs was to help people fill out “Honor Flags” to be placed along the route in honor of cancer victims.
“It just touched my heart” to see the riders parade through the flags, she said.
“It was just such a neat feeling to see that and be aprt of that, as a survivor standing there watching them,” she said.
The event was so powerful it convinced her to go from volunteer to participant at this year’s ride, which is scheduled for Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26.
Though not the entire, two-day event.
“This year I’ll do 10 miles,” she said. “Maybe next year I’ll do 25 and work my way up.”
She’s been training for the ride for weeks, and built her confidence with an 8‑mile ride in New Haven for an Earth Day event.
“I can do 10 no problem,” Chancey said.
She set out with a goal of raising $500 for the Center for Survivorship through her participation.
“I threw it on Facebook and just reached out to everyone,” she said. “I had a very big supportive group of family and friends. I said ‘You guys know how much this Center means to me.’”
Chancey’s family and friends responded — she had beat her $500 goal by $140 with weeks to spare.
Click here to make a donation to the CT Challenge at Chancey’s fundraising page.
Click here to learn more about the ride itself, an annual event since 2005.
And Chancey is not the only Valley resident participating — click here for other rider profiles at the CT Challenge site.
