Talei Morrison says she is "determined to progress forward in a positive manner". Photo/supplied
Talei Morrison says she is "determined to progress forward in a positive manner". Photo/supplied
Rotorua's Talei Morrison has asked her followers to have the utmost belief and strength in the knowledge she will be doing whatever it takes to eradicate cancer from her body.
In a stoic video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday, Morrison, wearing a "Smear Your Mea" T-shirt, looks directly at thecamera and tells viewers her cancer has spread.
"On Monday April 9, I received a phone call from the oncology unit at Waikato Hospital asking me if I could go in the next day," Morrison said on her video. "So we went in and my doctor shared with me that unfortunately my cancer has spread. It is now in the glands of my stomach, between my heart and my back, in my collar bone and around my kidneys.
"Both my radiation doctor and my chemotherapy doctor agree that there is no more that conventional medicine can do and, at some point, this cancer will take my life.
"However, my family and I and my close friends are determined to progress forward in a positive manner."
She asks that while people may be sad and even angry upon hearing the news, that they join "us" at some point and know everything will be being done to get rid of the cancer.
She concludes the video by thanking people for their love and support.
Earlier this year Morrison initiated the Smear Your Mea campaign, encouraging women to have their cervical smear tests done before performing at regional kapa haka events. The campaign quickly went viral, with credit given to Morrison's status within kapa haka circles.
Morrison told the Rotorua Daily Post today she started the campaign for two reasons. "When I was diagnosed there were no resources that connected with me as a Maori woman," Morrison said. "And also because I didn't want any woman to be stripped of her right to perform with her kapa because of cancer."
She said there were some things she had learned along her cancer journey. "If your gut tells you you're sick and you are not making progress with your GP, you need to ask questions and be pushy. They are there to serve us.
"Have conversations with your whanau and friends about each other's health and keep those conversations up.
"Respect your role as a kaihaka [performer]. Respect kapa haka; the art form that creates discipline, team work, commitment and that entices passion, energy and power, because you never know when your last stand will be."
