Meet Holly Shawyer, a teacher who is originally from Maryland and now living in Charleston, South Carolina. She made a big move away from her family. Not long after moving, she began experiencing stabbing pain in her abdomen, accompanied by radiating left shoulder pain. Despite initially dismissing the symptoms as nothing to be concerned about, the symptoms returned one day at work, prompting her to seek medical attention.
Holly, a 35-year-old avid runner in good health before her diagnosis, had researched her symptoms online and suspected stomach ulcers. However, after being prescribed medication for ulcers and referred to a gastroenterologist for a follow-up, she hesitated due to concerns about her health insurance. When her pain persisted, she insisted on having scans, which revealed a large cyst on her pancreas. Although initially thought to be benign by doctors, further scans identified a pre-cancerous nodule.
She knew about pancreatic cancer from reading and understood the urgency of addressing it. Three months later, doctors recommended more testing, but she pushed for earlier testing because the pain was affecting her marathon training. Running was important to Holly not just for physical health but also for mental well-being as someone who suffers from anxiety.
Holly began documenting her marathon training on TikTok and found a niche community of runners to support her through her training. Upon her diagnosis, she shared this part of her life with them despite her tendency to be a private person. She found support and an outlet for sharing her journey through TikTok videos. She also speaks about her heavy reliance on her faith through her journey and how her past life experiences helped her develop coping skills that she implemented to keep moving forward through it all.
She underwent a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy in December 2023. The procedure successfully removed a cancerous cyst along with the spleen, indicating stage 1 pancreatic cancer. This was followed by six months of chemotherapy while she continued working as a full-time teacher. She reflects on how exhausting it was for her to balance work and treatments, the lack of sick leave offered as a teacher, and the enduring side effects.
Holly finished her last treatments in June and was told she was in remission on July 19th, 2024. Despite the immense physical and mental toll, Holly pushed through chemo’s side effects and fatigue, juggling work and treatment. She also opens up about the lack of support for cancer survivors and the challenges she faced as a teacher with limited medical leave. Even after completing chemo, she still deals with lasting side effects that affect her running and teaching.
As she prepares for a new school year, Holly looks forward to starting fresh and being cancer-free while acknowledging the positives that came out of her journey with cancer. Join us for this week’s episode of the Project Purple Podcast to learn more about Holly’s story!
Follow Holly on TikTok to keep up with her running and advocacy content: tiktok.com/@hshawyer
