Cancer survivor Briony Benjamin shares what got her through treatment

A brave cancer survivor who’s been in remission for five years has detailed the trauma she experienced during treatment – and how she got through one of the most difficult times in her life.

Video producer Briony Benjamin, from Sydney, was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2018 and experienced symptoms of night sweats and extreme fatigue. 

The now 36-year-old documented her cancer journey using camera equipment gifted to her from a friend and also started journaling to find comfort in the situation.

In September 2019 Briony released a four-minute video showing the first time she broke the news to her family. 

It also shows when she shaved her head, removed her eggs for IVF, visited the hospital hundreds of times and finally, was in remission.

Now looking back, Briony says documenting everything was her saving grace. 

The now 36-year-old documented her cancer journey using camera equipment gifted to her from a friend and also started journaling to find comfort in the situation

‘I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was stage four and had spread all through my body. Making the video gave me a sense of control over a situation I felt I had no control over,’ Briony told the Today Show. 

Briony described her initial symptoms as night sweats, itchy skin, a cough and feeling tired all the time before she went to see a doctor. 

The diagnosis came as a huge shock.

Specialists harvested her eggs so she has the choice to build a family of her own in the future, she went through weeks of chemotherapy and had plenty of needles poked and prodded into her body.

In September 2019 Briony released a four-minute video showing the first time she broke the news to her family. It also shows when she shaved her head, removed her eggs for IVF, visited the hospital hundreds of times and finally, was in remission

Now looking back, Briony says documenting everything was her saving grace

‘Journaling was a huge part of it for me. I journaled religiously, right throughout chemo. When I wasn’t quite ready to talk about it or to someone, it was a great place to get clarity,’ Briony told 9Honey.

The helpful habit eventually led to writing her own book titled ‘Life Is Tough But So Are You’, and in it she states journaling was ‘my saviour throughout chemo and treatment’.

With assistance from Australian practitioner Liz Allen, Briony leaned into the power of changing the language around her experiences.  

‘It was about shifting the language from, “Oh, I’m feeling exhausted” to, “I’m doing exhaustion right now”. Instead of saying, “I’m stressed and hopeless”, “I am doing stress and hopelessness”,’ she said.

‘Journaling was a huge part of it for me. I journaled religiously, right throughout chemo. When I wasn’t quite ready to talk about it or to someone, it was a great place to get clarity,’ Briony told 9Honey 

But one of the toughest moments for the young video maker was having to cut off her long blonde locks

But one of the toughest moments for the young video maker was having to cut off her long blonde locks.

‘Losing my hair, probably for a lot of women, was a really emotional part of going through chemotherapy,’ she said.

‘My sister said a beautiful thing to me at the time, she said maybe we could frame it as every time I lose a bit of hair I’m closer to good health.’ 

But she didn’t allow the lack of hair to stop her from having fun, with Briony dressing up as Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road and Milly Bobby Brown in Stranger Things – who were both bald for their roles – to make light of the trauma.

‘Losing my hair, probably for a lot of women, was a really emotional part of going through chemotherapy,’ she said

Briony has received a number of messages since posting her inspirational video on Facebook, many of which are from people who are battling cancers now 

Briony has received a number of messages since posting her inspirational video on Facebook, many of which are from people who are battling cancers now.

Her advice to them is to hold onto hope, surround yourself with the people you love and be as kind to other people as you can – because you never know what inner demons they’re facing.