The Southland Times

From cancer, chemothera­py and two heart attacks to champion

One look at Lisa Maxwell will not give away her tumultuous journey through bowel cancer, chemothera­py treatment and two heart attacks.

Although the 55-year-old Invercargi­ll resident sure looks strong enough to give any thugs a run for their money, some of her life’s most testing times have taken place in the past three years.

However, Maxwell has had some triumphs as well.

She was at the gym training in late 2020 when she realised something was wrong.

“I remember it so clearly. It was a Saturday. I finished work, and thought ‘I’ll go to the gym, do some training’. I went to the toilet and I passed a blood clot and thought, ‘that was a bit weird’. My father had passed [away] from bowel cancer, and I didn't think anything of it, but I knew that it wasn't good.”

The hairstylis­t and personal trainer went to the doctor who got her a colonoscop­y, which found she had a couple of polyps and a grade three tumour, “which was massive”, she said.

After being diagnosed with bowel cancer, Maxwell had to have a third of her bowel removed through surgery.

“It was the most painful thing I've ever been through. Giving birth was easy,” she said.

The cancer had also gone through one node in her body, prompting doctors to start chemothera­py after she had healed from the surgery.

“I healed pretty well [after the surgery]. I think that's got a lot to do with being fit in the first place and being strong,” she said.

Maxwell, who took to the gym to “shed the baby weight” 15 years ago after her youngest child was born, started bodybuildi­ng at the age of 48 on the suggestion of a trainer at her gym, but had always maintained a healthy lifestyle, she said.

However, the chemothera­py was not the light at the end of the tunnel for her yet.

A few days after she started chemothera­py, Maxwell felt her chest tighten, and she couldn’t breathe, sending her to the hospital again. “I had essentiall­y had a couple of heart attacks (vasospasm) from having the chemo,” she said.

Fortunatel­y, she did not have any underlying disease or damage to the heart, but she said her oncologist­s told her chemothera­py had to stop right away, or else it could kill her.

“They don't mince words in oncology, they’re just straight up.”

Maxwell had an extremely rare reaction to the chemothera­py treatment, she said.

Not one to be defeated, she said that it was her faith in herself, her drive to continue, staying well, her husband, and being inspired by her clients that kept her going.

“The work that I do makes me feel better when I can give back,” she said.

Less than a year after her surgery, Maxwell was back in bodybuildi­ng, winning the 50+ age group class, the best routine as well as the Ms Southern Regions Figure titles, at the National Amateur Body-Builders' Associatio­n (NABBA) nationals in August 2021.

Maxwell, who held back tears of pride when reflecting, won the title of Ms Southern Regions that year.

“It was just fantastic. I've never won anything like that before. And it happened again the following year.”

She had started preparing for the competitio­ns in June 2021, when her cancer went into remission, and she started winning big at her sport.

“I went from one thing to another [during the cancer phase] and thought, ‘how do I turn this around and make this into a positive?’

“Anyone that's been affected by cancer and coming out the other side has an impact every day.

“But [cancer] has been good for me, because I've done things that I never thought that I'd ever do. I feel like life started at 50,” she said.

This year, Maxwell was taking the year off from bodybuildi­ng competitio­ns, but hoped to return next year and earn her NABBA Pro Card, which would allow her to become a profession­al bodybuilde­r.

“I've met some amazing people and made some amazing friends. It's empowering,” Maxwell said of bodybuildi­ng.

She said that her health was still closely monitored because of elevated carcinoemb­ryonic antigen levels, which were markers for different cancers, and because she could not have more chemothera­py.

While she still got some nausea and dealt with lateral hernia, she said she was grateful to be alive and enjoyed working with her coach to build her strength and muscle mass.

She was more confident, and encouraged people to get into the sport.

“You can’t lose. It's about winning within yourself. What can you do to push yourself? It's about putting yourself in a place of a little bit of fear, and the fear is the same as excitement,” she said.