Facing the Storm-1

In November 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. Despite having had a double mastectomy, it was back; same grade, same place.

Once again I relied on my diary regularly, to offload and to keep some sort of grasp on this new fragmented vision of my life. And once again imagery played a huge role – call it ‘art therapy’ or just an escape route for my thoughts.

Now, five years on from finishing my treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and with quite a different story to tell, I have decided, instead of producing a second book, to share excerpts from my diary, with my accompanying original art works in a series of blogs.

About the image: I took this photo walking my dog. The contrast of the happy sunflowers doing their best to hold their heads up despite the stormy clouds, resonated with me so deeply. I had been bumbling along with my life, five years on from my first breast cancer, and I was enjoying feeling happy. Somewhere along the way I got complacent about checking myself. Every time I touched ‘that place’ on my body, I cascaded back into the fog of it all. So I just stopped checking myself.

My first book – ‘See the Colour in the Clouds’ tells the story of my first journey with breast cancer, when my daughters were just 8yrs and 5yrs, and how they played such an important role in my recovery.

See the Colour in the Clouds – by Stefanie Sixsmith – Autobiography and Memoir

Published 30th November 2021 by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

Kindle edition and paperback available from:

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Also available from: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd. http://www.austinmacauley.com/book/see-colour-clouds

Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.

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