Join Julia Cooksey Evans, two time cancer survivor and founder of Coloring Over Cancer, for an evening of art and expression through coloring and creativity.  

JULIA COOKSEY EVANS

Biography

Julia Cooksey Evans is the founder of Coloring Over Cancer, a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on art and creativity in the fight against cancer. Julia knows firsthand what that fight is all about. She has battled and BEAT cancer not once, but TWICE. She is a survivor of  aggressive B- Celled lymphoma of the brain and breast cancer. Julia knew she was in for the fight of her life when her doctor told her to get her affairs in order now and prepare for brain surgery or he would give her just 3 to 6 months to live if she did not act immediately! Her first diagnosis, stage 4 brain cancer, did not come easy. Julia advocated for herself to get answers on why she was having massive migraine headaches all of a sudden, but her MRI came back normal. Julia was not satisfied, and was still suffering from the headaches. She did not give up! When she landed in the office of another doctor for answers, he requested one more MRI. That MRI revealed what she knew all along, that something wasn’t right. The dime-sized mass they found on her brain would change her life forever. Faith, hope and love kept Julia strong on the days she needed it most, along with her great team of doctors, nurses, family and friends.

Just shy of  a five-year remission and overwhelmed with grief from the recent passing of her mother from breast cancer, Julia received the devastating news three days before Christmas that she had been diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. Being careful not to ruin everyone else’s holiday, she kept the news to herself. After seeing what the cancer did to her mother, she was terrified, but she had to make some really hard decisions and she had to make them quickly. She remembers sitting alone on the side of the road crying when she received this devastating news.  When she stopped, she said, “I cried, now I fight.” In the midst of planning her wedding to the man who has been by her side every step of the way fighting with her the first time, Julia opted to have a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery. Her doctor promised he would get her in shape in time for her special day and could start chemotherapy after her wedding day.  With so much love and promise on that day, Julia walked down the aisle to her happily ever after.

Being a survivor, but also having lost her mother, aunt and mother-in-law to the disease, fueled a fire in Julia to use her voice in hopes of helping to save lives of those battling cancer and to pay it forward. The fight is never your own. It’s a journey shared by loved ones. Coloring, a childhood favorite got Julia through many moments of uncertainty during her hospital stays and chemotherapy treatments. Inspired to heal the cancer world, one color at a time, Julia started Coloring Over Cancer. Conquering cancer for Julia means sharing positive affirmations, information, resources and promoting social-emotional support.  Coloring Over Cancer adds the healing properties of art and expression through coloring and creativity. Julia is committed to encouraging, educating and empowering those in the fight. “I’m still here,” she says. Her testimony equals triumph. Julia currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and bonus kids.  Her greatest advice in life, “Slow down, tomorrow is not promised. Enjoy the moment.”