Dr Emily Shotter: Cancer warrior and 'mum' to a blind cat in Oman
‘I’ve learned to take each day as it comes and live life to the max’
Muscat: Dr Emily Shotter fell in love with Oman when she visited 17 years ago. It took another four years to settle down in Oman.
Emily is also a cancer survivor, and runs the hugely popular social media account of her blind cat Moet, while working full time with a private organisation in Oman. The moetblindcat Instagram account has 72,000 followers.
Emily was 48 when she was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma in 2018. “That’s a sort of slow-growing (or low grade) lymphoma, which is a blood cancer and affects the immune system. I underwent chemotherapy in 2018 and although I’m classed as having ‘No Evidence of Disease’ at present, it’s not actually a curable cancer, so I know it will come back at some point.
"Where or when I don’t know - it could be a year or it could be 20 years - obviously I’m hoping for the latter - but the lesson I’ve learned from it all is to take each day as it comes and live life to the max with a positive outlook and mindset. There’s no use worrying about it, so I don’t.”
Emily credits her 84-year-old mum for her resilience with whom she is very close and visits UK every four months to meet her mother, two brothers and a sister. “I was very nervous about having chemotherapy and the side effects, but I coped very well, all things considered, and actually continued to work remotely throughout the treatment period and made sure I stayed as active and healthy as possible.”
Emily is an active member on a Facebook page called ‘Living with Follicular Lymphoma’ and is also part of the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation. However, her real passion is volunteering for animal rescue in Oman as part of a group called Omani Paws. “My love in life is definitely cats, and my ‘almost famous’ blind cat Moet takes up a lot of my spare time with her social media. Pets are also great therapy during cancer.”
Although Emily has an ‘incurable’ form of cancer, she definitely sees herself as a survivor. The odds may not necessarily be in her favour in the long-term, but her attitude certainly is.
“I pour my energy into life, work and home just as anybody would, but perhaps with a slightly different perspective - that life is precious and something to be relished and enjoyed in the moment.”