Wandjina/Penny has passed after a long battle with cancer

[Torsten]

Penny was a very active member here for a long time but after a bit of a tiff here she spent most of her time at the other forums. Soon she became ill and retreated from both forums to focus on beating her rare form of cancer. Treatment seemed successful for a while and she eventually returned to online life and was even scheduled to speak at EGA this year. However things took a turn and it quickly became apparent she was losing the battle. I tried to help her source materials and research about alternative treatments that could be used to support her conventional treatment and to rebuild her body from the damage of such treatment. It was a very steep and emotional learning curve for me to watch someone going through this process where every decision was a matter of life and death .... and there were just so many decisions to make. Her clarity and strength were a great example to those around her.

Penny was a dedicated researcher in her field and a very outspoken individual.

She passed away this morning surrounded by her family.

[incognito]

Sorry to hear. My thoughts are with her little one. May all forces of the universe watch over and give her strength.

I only met penny once. I remember her as kind and oPen in person. Could handle a bulberator, and I intend that with the sincerest and unadulterated respect. I will never forget ballooning through the night with p and another kind and open, though lost to this dimension, our friend cs. Was an amazing night with two unique individuals. People u never forget once you have met them.

I am dry fortunate.

P was a good person. A bearer of light in adverse circumstance. Yet she was a provider, a student, and worked where she helped lives. Did I mention generous?

Hope your enjoying what's next in line for you.

Edited April 9, 2012 by incognito

[watertrade]

She was active when I first started coming here. I know some people that knew her, she will be remembered. Very sad. sorry guys.

[MORG]

Penny was the first member of this forum that I met in person. She gave me my first plants, one of which I still own.

She impressed me as an extraordinarily warm, open and accepting person. I didn't spend a lot of hours in her company, but she made every one of them a great conversation and connection.

She was also a keen inquirer and student and I hope a small part of her has been satisfied with an answer now.

My thoughts and love are with her daughter and family now.

[Evil Genius]

Not sure what to say about this right now. I am just so sad because i´ve been having talks with her about her cancer in the past year and when she suddenly stopped replying, i was expecting the worst. I really hate to be right about stuff like this. This really fucked with my day now.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Evil Genius

[Psylo]

This is sad news. I met Penny numerous times over the years through offline ethno associates, and was surprised I didn't see her around when I joined these forums. A sad loss, and especially to her young daughter, who I hope will remember at least a bit of how uniquly great her mum was.

[Sallubrious]

[Alice]

Very sorry to hear this news. I only met her in person once at a meet back in 2006/7, she seemed like a very lovely person. Our thoughts to her family and friends.

[ballzac]

Very sad to hear about this. I never met her in person, but she was one of the regulars here when I joined that I really admired. When she stopped posting here I messaged her to let her know that her presence on the forums would be missed by a lot of people. I think she said something to the effect that she's still very active in the community and that she's sure we'll get the opportunity to meet in person some time. Unfortunately, this never happened

[botanika]

Very sad to hear this. She made nice hats too.

[botanika]

Very sad to hear this. She made nice hats too.

[planthelper]

i still remeber one of her first posts at the old eb, asking about how to enjoy a weekend at the entrance, north of sydney. she brought a lot of joy to the forums at that stage and was a prolific poster.

i did spend a short time with her, and those few day's, stayed very well in my memory.

she was a very intellegent person, and a fantastic artisan, and used a very large vocabulary.

in her life, she had to experience some very sad happenings, and allthough this, she was always quite upbeat for life. my thought's are with her daughter and mother, a mother which now has lost both of her children.

i already had a good cry, oh penny, why is life sometimes so unjust.

[obtuse]

Im going to miss Penny a lot. She was amongst the first people i met from this forum, and AE. I enjoyed her company a lot.

I first met Penny on the way to EGA 2007, and we camped out together and had an amazing time chatting, and chilling out.

We spent a lot of time chatting online in the early days of AE, and for a while she was a heavy contributor there. It was penny who was responsible for the AE logo, and i know there are many here who have some of her artwork.

I missed her company terribly at the last EGA knowing she was quite unwell.

All my love to her family, and especially her daughter who must be devastated at losing her mother.

Obtuse.

[Moses]

very sad indeed, love and thoughts to all those affected.

truly wish i gotten some of her art now, always admired it but none had quite sung to me yet

[hebrew]

Very sad to hear this, when i think of her, i think of hugs and smiles, so sad to hear of this loss.

My thoughts are with her little one.

i was thinking this as well Jono.

[Legba]

RIP Wandjina

Wandjinas daughter has many close family members around to care for her.

Never lost in our hearts.

[nothinghead]

Terrible news, especially after her posts elsewhere that seemed so optimistic. Thoughts are with you, Penny.

[coin]

have something bright by which to remember her...

must have been so hard for those who knew her most recent stretch (struggle?) to the end....

and what can't be spoken for her family

[7baz]

never met penny but she sounds like a woman of strong influence.

i offer my condolences.

[Sallubrious]

Wanjina was one of the first people I met from SAB. We had a great time talking and hanging out that day.

I was sad when she revealed she had cancer. As i recall it was in the thread about Gomaos' passing and the following discussion.

Farewell Wanjina I'm sorry you had to leave so soon. We miss you. Rest easy.

 

She was sick for over a year before Gom passed, the last time I spoke to her was around the time Gom passed and she seemed like she was getting on top of it. She had amazed the doctors with her recovery as the type of cancer she had was normally all downhill. Her blood counts were looking good and she was feeling better. She was also starting to get her tenacious attitude back (she had a strong personality with strong opinions) and I thought that she could have actually beaten it. I was a bit concerned when she sold her EGA ticket and I wondered if something was up, maybe she knew she didn't have long and she wanted people to remember her the way she was before she got sick.

It really came as a shock to me when I read this thread.

A sad day for the Australian ethno community.

Bye Wandjina

[Torsten]

SallyD, Wanjina was shattered she could not make it to EGA. She was keen to tell her story, because lets not forget that death is a big aspect of shamanism. But she was simply too ill to travel. Even after she had cancelled she was still considering going when she had a few good days, but when things got worse she had to face the reality of travel.

You are right that she was sick long before Gom passed. She had kept her illness quiet for a long time before finally posting about it on AE. That was still a long time before Gom passed.

The battle with her cancer was a real rollercoaster. her initial response exceeded all expectations and she kept joking about how she was becoming a study subject for the docs to publish a paper on because she was doing so unexpectedly well. But despite the great successes, the cancer kept coming back and eventualy she ran out of options.

Penny sent me some presents a few months ago, including a hat. I had assumed she had made it, but still had to smile at the concept of me wearing it. We had never actually met so she probably didn't know I wasn't actually a pixie. LOL.

[shruman]

A beautiful spirit

She was so passionate, caring & good natured.

My thoughts are with those who have loved & lost.

The lecture she gave at EGA in 09 was meticulous & am so glad to have seen her in that capacity. She realy shined.

I only ever realy said Hi & exchanged niceties face to face but was looking forward to changing that at EGA 11 but as it turned out I ended up buying her ticket. For which she was overly appreciative & I had to assure her she was doing me the favour. She made sure I got it too, LOL.

Off topic jabber

I'm a bit confused about the timeline Torsten presents?, I thought she came out about her health issues on AE a month or 2 after diagnosis?, she had a big thread about it well before Will's passing.

Can you please edit the Title to spell her username correctly?

[shruman]

She always seemed to me to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders but somehow still take it in her stride & implement the change she so wanted.

Some may be interested in some of her trials & tribulations in this particular battle:

http://www.australianethnobotany.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4494&p=54309&hilit=cancer#p54309

[indigo264nm]

I'm glad I got the chance to digitally converse with her on fb about her journal entry for lasts EGA that she could not attend.

I remember when I was all of 16 or 17, the first time I met Sina as well, being taken into Penny's home after a Sydney meet and treated as an equal - not a child. I remember the need we all had of having to get out of the CBD asap because of the Mardi Gras was being setting up.

We all had many laughs and deep conversations that night, in the early hours of the morning Lebga picked up his guitar and showed off his blues skills, and when the sun came up for breakfast we had freshly juiced oranges with Ephedra and Catha.

The following morning I got the pleasure of meeting Penny's daughter Maya the one time who my prayers are with.

A small back-mounted artwork of hers will continue to hang in the middle of my lounge room wall for as long as her memory still holds any significance to me.

Farewell Penny.

[Torsten]

I'm a bit confused about the timeline Torsten presents?, I thought she came out about her health issues on AE a month or 2 after diagnosis?, she had a big thread about it well before Will's passing.

 

ha, time can be deceptive. You are obviously completely right. However, when Penny told me about it she asked me to keep it quiet as she wasn't ready to go public. As I don't frequent AE I did not know about her post for a while and hence did not know I didn't have to be quiet about it anymore until a friend told me. I guess in my mind the original time frame experience stuck, but you're right it was only 6 weeks or so.

These things can be a bit of a blur for me as I actually need to deal with these situations all too often nowadays. For some reason I got fascinated by alternative cancer treatments [where there is scientific evidence of merit] a few years ago even though there was no cancer in my family and circle of friends. That means I am now often the contact person for people who have lost the conventional battle as we are the only ones who make DCA and glutathione in australia, have ready access to honokiol, and we can provide solvent free liver-protecting phyto extracts - among a whole host of other things. Something as simple as alcohol free milk thistle extract took Penny weeks to find and then it cost so much she couldn't actually take the required dose. The last thing she needed was to waste time and money on stuff like that and I was glad i could help her out a bit and give her options.