Vol. 21, Issue 6, June 30, 2023
Cancer survivor speakers are some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever been privileged to meet. When I first talked with breast cancer survivor Sharon Delaney McCloud, I was particularly impressed with her bright spirit and positive attitude. I soon learned that some of that spunk comes from a colorful background.
She calls herself a citizen of the world. She is the daughter of Irish immigrants whose adventures led them to Kenya and then to Tanzania, where Sharon was born and lived as a young child. Her travels took her around the globe as a member of the Department of Defense’s U.S.O. program.
Then Sharon began her career as a television journalist covering everything from NASA to politics to the Super Bowl. After 20 years in TV and one Emmy Award, Sharon founded what would become a three-time honored INC 5000 communications firm.
But let’s back up. At one point during her television career, she anchored a show about beating breast cancer, and ironically enough, six months after that she was diagnosed herself and began the journey through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and a year-long clinical trial. And as you’ll also learn, she’d previously dealt with the grueling five months of her baby girl Macie’s battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Today, I’m sharing some highlights of my interview with Sharon.
Sharon Delaney McCloud
Cancer Survivorship: Walking A Tightrope
Sharon was diligent about her yearly mammogram appointment. In April 2016, two weeks before her regularly scheduled mammogram, she had found a lump in her armpit, which she thought was an ingrown hair gone wild — it had not been there the year before. Within that year, now there were not only three tumors in her breast, but a lymph node as well was all swollen up. Fortunately, her provider had just started doing 3D mammograms, which you may know are necessary to find tumors in dense breast tissue — 40% of women and men have dense breasts.
Seven years later, after chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and a year-long clinical trial, she shared her thoughts about survivorship with me —
“I think that, for cancer survivors, there’s an element of walking a tightrope, because you’re so grateful each year that passes; that puts you one year further ahead from the original diagnoses and all of the treatment.
“We’re so grateful to be alive and hopefully, thriving,” she continued, “but there’s always that thought in the back of our minds like, oh, goodness, what if it comes back? A persistent headache or a pain in your bones triggers the worry. So it’s a constant management of your stress and your emotions surfacing.
“I think that’s the biggest thing that cancer survivors have to learn to manage is anxiety.”
KEEPING AN EYE ON IT? No thank you.
Just this last March, at her six-month check-up, just a couple of weeks before the seventh year since her diagnosis, Sharon dealt with this very issue: a lump under her skin was detected.
“My oncologist was doing the exam, and she says, ‘Oh, what is this lump?’
“’Oh, my God,’ I said, ‘What?’ My heart leapt out of my chest.”
“’This was not here six months ago,’” she said. She brought my finger over to feel it. And it was in the left breast where the original cancer was found.
‘“How can there be a lump if there is no breast tissue?’ I said, ‘It’s a double mastectomy, and there are implants.’
“’Believe it or not,’ she said, ‘lumps can still appear.’
“But she said she didn’t think this is one to worry about. She wanted to just keep an eye on it for the next six months.
“What? I love my oncologist, but ‘keep an eye on it for the next six months’ is not anything any cancer survivor wants to hear. That is heart-stopping stuff right there. I don’t think she realized the impact that that would have on me.
“Although she felt strongly that it was nothing to worry about, she heard my concern, and since it was very close to the skin, I made an appointment with my dermatologist (who is also a breast cancer survivor). However, it was six weeks out.”
This is where attitude adjustment comes into the picture.
“I had to go home and process this whole thing. I allowed myself to pout for a few days, and my husband was so sweet, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. And then after my pity party I was like, ‘Okay, enough. Why should I bother spending the next five and a half weeks circling the drain? I can’t. I’m a wife, I’m a mom, I have a job. I can’t do that.’
“And so, I think those are the decisions that the cancer survivors are constantly having to make for themselves in order to live each day to its fullest.
“Having lost my little girl, Macie, to acute myeloid leukemia turned out to be a cornerstone for my tenacity. Her chemo protocol was 100 times harder than anything I did. The way she faced it, at only six months old when she was diagnosed, was amazing. Infant leukemia is exceedingly rare. Leukemia is the most prevalent of childhood cancers but it’s usually a little bit later on, not as an infant. Adults who have AML, or acute myeloid leukemia can barely get through the treatment themselves. She was a little warrior.
“I just always feel like I’ve got a little angel on my shoulder. So when I would get discouraged, I would think about her. I also have a Ten-Step Resiliency Program protocol, and when I feel bad, I pull it out. It’s nothing scientific — it’s just things that I have learned and read about that have helped me. I talk about it in my programs. Feel free to download a copy here.
“When we’re in the midst of crisis, we sometimes forget that we’re capable of doing these other things,” she said.
When Sharon did see her dermatologist, she heard Sharon’s concern loud and clear, zipped off the lump right then and sent it to pathology to give her 100% assurance and the relief she needed.
CALL IN THE CAVALRY
“It’s also important to know when to reach out for help,” Sharon confided. “When I had the double mastectomy, I went into a very deep, dark place. It was the worst I had felt, even worse than the chemo. I had a ridiculous conversation with my husband; I said that I’d like to go ahead and file for divorce so I can pick the new wife.
“’Okay,’” he said, “’just stop talking — I think it’s time to call in the cavalry.’”
“Everybody, hopefully, has those one or two friends who can come in and save the day. Mine was my college roommate Beth who came up for three days and literally stood me back up and got me out of that negative, dark place.”
Learn more about Sharon, and see speaking videos on our website here. To bring Sharon’s bright spirit, stories, and encouragement to your community, give me a call at 503-699-5031 or email barbara@speakwellbeing.com.
POWER of FRIENDSHIP
I can certainly relate to Sharon’s comments about the power of friendship. I recall a very dark time in my life when I’d lost my man, my mother, and my mentor, all in the space of a year. I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. There were long-distance calls with far-away friends who helped pull me up by my bootstraps. And there were the local friends who referred me to a class at our local community college called, “Eliminating Self-Defeating Behavior.” Now if that isn’t a daunting title, I don’t know what is! However, it turned out to be the exact ticket I needed to move myself forward.
The class started within a day of my inquiring and signing up for it. In fact, it was my introduction to motivational speakers like Wayne Dyer and Leo Buscaglia and was pivotal in my career move into the speaking business.
You never know when you’ll need to call on those long-time friends who knew you when . . . and love you still. Until next time, take care of yourself for your well being and those you love.
Yours truly,
Barbara
For Your Well Being is published with the intention of bringing you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!
The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on health and wellness for all types of organizations that want to foster health and well being for their employees, members, clients, and in their communities.
Our speakers are hand-selected. They are not only experts in their fields; they connect with their audiences while bringing them life-changing information, smiles of recognition, and ultimately a sense of well being and hope.
Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me great joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.
