Julie’s story
Age: 40 years
Diagnosis: Stage 3, Grade 4 Breast Cancer – Triple Negative.
In November 2014 I Felt a lump in my left breast and as it was still there in January I went to the Doctors.
He referred me to Good Hope for investigation and in February I had Consultation/Mammogram/Ultra Sound/Biopsy, followed by and an Operation for removal of tumour & lymph node. I thought this was over but in March they found it had spread and I needed full lymph node clearance.
Chemotherapy began in May, followed by Radiotherapy in September. I was so pleased when treatment finished October 19th 2015.
I felt a mix of feelings
Shocked, Stunned – I Never expected it to be cancer, and cried with relief when I realised there was a plan in place for treatment
Thankful for finding the lump, to the Doctor who referred me, to the Consultant/Surgeon for having the skills to help me, to the NHS for having the treatment available
Guilty for the impact on family and friends – hated seeing everyone upset and hated even more knowing the upset I’d caused that was being kept from me
Grateful for support from family, friends and work
I originally joined CSC upon diagnosis as was lost and didn’t want to burden Doctors with questions – I always thought Doctors were there for prescribing medicines and I needed more!
During my hospital treatment I didn’t attend CSC much as there were so many appointments going on
But as I neared the end of Chemo I went back to CSC, so many questions around …
- Holistic Treatments and Conventional Medicine working together
- What I could do when Conventional Treatment came to an end to prevent cancer coming back
- How I could change my lifestyle … for the better me … being happier, calmer, stronger, fitter, healthier….
What difference it made !
Physically my body healed really well and I recovered full movement of my left arm with the help from Yoga and Emmet offered at CSC
My body began to relax (I hadn’t realised it wasn’t) thanks to Reflexology and Indian Head Massages
I slept better at night … sleeping means the body can heal at a deeper level and allows a greater response to treatment
This in turn calmed my mind and reduced the craziness of my thoughts … allowing me to really focus on the positive thanks to meditation classes
The above was my starting point, I now practice Yoga and Meditation on a daily basis and feel so much better for it 🙂
The CSC was really important to me in my recovery and healing.
As the shock subsided and I attended weekly appointments/treatments I wanted to know what I could do to help my body heal longer term, prevent further health issues and nourish my body nutritionally.
We are brilliant at dealing with the symptoms of an illness but not necessarily the cause of it, ie we are happy to take a tablet for a headache but not necessarily to understand that by drinking more water to hydrate the body we can prevent the headache in the first place!
This is where CSC really kicked in for me, I wanted to take accountability for ‘me’ and do as much as I can to lead a happier, less stressed, joyful life.
The treatment the NHS gave me saved my life, but at the end of Treatment then what? They are busy helping the next person … I didn’t wish to return to my old life but also didn’t know how to move into a new life (or what that looked like!). CSC held my hand gave me the tools that I needed to move forward, step by step.
The group workshops really helped and I took loads of information away from them. In particular: Nutrition, Self Help, Reiki and Meditation. There was an element of taking back control of my life and it felt good!
Once you open the door to lifestyle changes, you find more and more to look into. Having attended the ‘Aromatherapy Rainbow’ workshop it opened up a new world – I’d love to explore this more (hint, hint!)