Camilla Franks shared a heart-wrenching post after undergoing ovarian removal surgery this week, as her battle with breast cancer continues.
But on Saturday, the brave 44-year-old fashion designer shined a light on the ‘angels’ who have supported her throughout her journey.
She shared a photo of herself with a team of medical workers who she called ‘angels on earth’ who ‘brighten the darkest of days.’
‘They deserve a wave of gratitude’: Camilla Franks shared a heartfelt message to medical staff for ‘brightening the darkest of days’ on Saturday, after undergoing surgery to remove her ovaries this week as her battle with breast cancer continues
‘I cannot thank these beautiful souls who’ve supported me through this breast cancer journey enough,’ she wrote.
‘Nurses, obstetricians, oncologists, cleaners, surgeons, cooks, physicians, pathologists, therapists, psychologists, radiologists and so many wellbeing warriors,’ she thanked in her post.
Camilla added: ‘I have such wonderful health care workers giving me so much love, strength and encouragement as I’ve struggled through an avalanche of physical and emotional pain.’
The Kaftan Queen continued: ‘These are true Earth Angels. Selfless, nurturing and special beyond words. They deserve a wave of gratitude.’
‘When you are in such a vulnerable place, just having someone there with a kind word, a warm touch and an empathy for your suffering, means so much,’ she said.
Camilla also shared another special thank you to everyone who has ‘helped save my life, picked up the broken pieces and worked tirelessly to put me back together again.’
On Thursday, Camilla shared a heart-wrenching post on Instagram in which she revealed she was still in hospital recovering after undergoing surgery to remove her ovaries.
Recovering: On Thursday, Camilla shared a photo of herself lying in bed alongside her two-year-old daughter Luna’s teddy bear, Camilla called the toy her ‘comfort in a sea of sadness’ as she recovered after undergoing surgery to remove her ovaries
Sharing a photo of herself lying in bed alongside her two-year-old daughter Luna’s teddy bear, Camilla called the toy her ‘comfort in a sea of sadness’.
‘I’m clinging to it like a life raft, breathing in her smell, feeling her presence and warmth. Its little furry body is soaked with a torrent of tears that I can’t seem to stop,’ she began.
‘I lie here with a broken heart as I recover from surgery to finally remove my ovaries. The grief and pain is excruciating. I feel as if my chest is going to burst as I mourn the loss of children I can no longer bear.’
Devastating: ‘I’m clinging to it like a life raft, breathing in her smell, feeling her presence and warmth. Its little furry body is soaked with a torrent of tears that I can’t seem to stop,’ she began
Describing her battle with breast cancer as ‘hideous’, Camilla confessed her fight with the insidious disease is ongoing.
‘The gut-wrenching fear, sickness and debilitating rounds of immediate treatment are one thing, but it goes on,’ she continued, noting that she has the ‘harmful BRCA2 gene variant.’
‘Not only did I have to fight the breast cancer I had, I also had to prevent the future cancers I was so much more likely to get – more breast cancer, ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, and others.’
Tragic: Describing her battle with breast cancer as ‘hideous’, Camilla confessed her fight with the insidious disease is ongoing
‘The gut-wrenching fear, sickness and debilitating rounds of immediate treatment are one thing, but it goes on,’ she continued. Pictured at a fashion launch in Sydney in April 2017
She added: ‘I had to fight to save my life. A life which is so much more precious now that I have a little girl who loves and needs me.’
Camilla was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer only months after welcoming her daughter, who she shares with her musician fiancé JP Jones, in January 2018.
In the post she recalled discovering the lump in her breast and having to stop breastfeeding child before undergoing six months of chemotherapy, which were successful.
After that, the designer noted that she then had a double mastectomy and surgery to removal her fallopian tubes.
‘I lie here with a broken heart as I recover from surgery to finally remove my ovaries. The grief and pain is excruciating,’ she wrote
‘But now, this. The divine essence of my womanhood. My ovaries, the most sacred givers of life, being taken from me, leaves the biggest hole of all.’
Camilla revealed she’d been undergoing IVF treatments in the hope of having another child when her dream of becoming a second-time mum was destroyed.
The famed Australian designer revealed that she’d undergone ‘five unsuccessful rounds of IVF’.
‘I’ve spent the last 18 in pursuit of the dream of becoming a mother again,’ she confessed.
‘I had to fight to save my life. A life which is so much more precious now that I have a little girl who loves and needs me,’ she wrote. Pictured at a fashion show in Sydney in May 2018
Fight to survive: Camilla was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer only months after welcoming her daughter, who she shares with her musician fiancé JP Jones (pictured), in January 2018
‘I kept putting this final lifesaving surgery off in the hope that I could pull off a miracle… I just really wanted to carry a baby again.’
‘I wanted to have a brood of bubbas and now must accept that I will have one biological child,’ she wrote.
Camilla said the whole ordeal had reminded her ‘just how much being a mother is a gift’, but said she’s ‘beyond grateful’ for the daughter she has.
She added: ‘There will always be an undertone of grief and sadness but I will thrive again. I will laugh. I will feel joy. Because that is who I am.’
‘There will always be an undertone of grief and sadness but I will thrive again. I will laugh. I will feel joy. Because that is who I am,’ she wrote. Pictured at a fashion show in Sydney in May 2016