From Terminally Fabulous to ETERNALLY Fabulous – Lisa Magill You Are my Hero

For those of you who do not know the astounding human being called Lisa Magill, let me tell you about her. She is a 34 year old woman who has been living with (and subsequently blogging about) her terminal stomach cancer with insight, strength and incredible humour for the last four years.

I first came across her page when notorious blogger Constance Hall sung her praises and I am so, so glad that she let us all know about this fabulous, beautiful, brave woman.

And she has held back about NOTHING. From the start she vowed to write about the good, the bad and the ugly going into no-holds-barred details about her condition, her treatments and how she feels about facing certain death. She has been to the brink and back numerous times but has rallied and fought it back over and over and over from being told she has just days left to live in hospital to saying “fuck you cancer you MOFO” I’m going home, which she has done over and over where she has continued to live, laugh and love and write in glorious detail about all of it.

This might sound morbid to some but Lisa’s wicked sense of humour and her way with words has left this particular reader absolutely mesmerised for well over a year now. She finds humour in her blackest moments and has left me see-sawing equally between literally laughing out loud to weeping silent tears about her journey thus far.

Last year she wrote that one of the things on her bucket list was an overwhelming desire to be in the Birdcage for Melbourne Cup. With the magic of Facebook the word was quickly spread and thanks to the generosity of people far and wide she made it and let me tell you for a woman with terminal cancer, she looked a million dollars and I was overjoyed that that particular wish came true for her.

Her readers have been privy to her innermost thoughts on her pain, both physical and mental. Stomach cancer has been an evil beast leaving her in constant pain and discomfort with some days unable to even go to the toilet or keep any food down. But the biggest hurt of all comes from her heart when she ponders the things in life she will never reach; the milestones and goalposts she will never achieve but most of all the fears for the intense suffering her family is sure to face when she’s gone.

She has been an absolute inspiration to others suffering from their own illnesses or having to watch their loved ones face battles with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery and she has done it all with grace, humour and strength.

Lisa’s wish was that she pass at home but unfortunately last week she collapsed after her body was no longer able to accept the nutrients it needed and she has been in palliative care with her gorgeous mum Geraldine regularly posting updates to her thousands and thousands of followers. Just a few days ago she wrote that Lisa was only occasionally awake now due to the massive amount of drugs necessary to keep her pain-free but in her usual humour when she was awake, she joked “who wants to bet I’ll still be here at Christmas”. I hope you are babe.

Last night was one of the saddest posts I have ever seen when Lisa, with the assistance of her family, INSISTED on putting up a video to her “Fabulous Rockstars” (how she refers to her legion of followers) who she credits with her being here as long as she has to update us on her condition.

She said “I am not going very well. I have been quite ill and I’ve been in the hospital for the past few days. I am in pain as I speak. My chest is hurting, my stomach hurts, my pelvis hurts, everything massively hurts. I’m so weak I can’t actually stand up out of my own bed.”

I for one, am absolutely dreading reading Geraldine’s very last but inevitable update on Lisa and even though this is a woman I have never met, I feel like I’m going to lose a dear friend and a part of my heart is going to break on that day. I know her family is incredibly proud of Lisa and her spirit and I can tell you that it makes me ashamed when I feel the need to complain about the things in this world that just don’t matter when she has fought this massive fight as hard as she has in the way that she has.

We love you Lisa. You are a hero, a shining star and you will always be eternally fabulous to us. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To follow Lisa on Facebook click here. And to read her blog click here.