Miracles do happen

And I’m living proof!

It’s difficult to explain how it feels to be told you have nine months to live. It was 1992, I was 39 and had been living in Spain for four months. Living the dream.

But in the October, my boyfriend Pete, who was visiting from the UK, found a tiny lump in my right breast.

And in the December, I found more, larger lumps under my armpit.

Visiting a specialist days before Christmas, I was alone when I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast and lymphatic cancer.

I walked out of the hospital in a daze.

The first thing I did was go to a newsagent and find a dictionary. imminent death, it read.

That night, Pete told me he couldn’t handle it. That was my darkest time. I lay on the floor and howled, stricken with devastation.

‘Why me?’ I asked myself. I cried for six hours straight.

In the days following my diagnosis, I spoke to a doctor friend in the UK.

He suggested I come home for my treatment.

I soon returned to London, with a death sentence hanging over me.

On New Year’s Day, Pete arrived on my doorstep.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I was just so overwhelmed.’ I eventually forgave him. In 1993, the year

I lay on the floor and howled, stricken and devastated

I’d turn 40, I was admitted to The Royal Marsden Hospital for surgery to remove the lump.

Then, I began chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It was gruelling. By this time, I’d accepted the fact I was going to die.

I’d turn 40 in October – 10 months after my diagnosis. So, I decided I wanted to have a party. ‘Is that a good idea?’ my mum Muriel questioned. I told her if I didn’t make it, it would be a memorial party. I had a massage as part of a clinical trial during treatment. It inspired me to train as a masseuse. I studied the body, the blood and cancer cells. And then I started to research the way our bodies react to certain treatments and therapies. I started off by looking into the benefits of lavender, rosemary and essential oils. And then I found more obscure treatments. First it was kombucha, a yeast that you grow in a sweetened tea. Then Essiac tea, which Ojibwe Indians used to treat cancer. I also had all the mercury fillings removed from my mouth after reading that they could be harmful.

I didn’t know if it was true. But what did I have to lose?

I was dying, right?

I reduced my sugar intake and became a pescatarian, eating fish but not meat.

I started taking supplements and multivitamins.

I discovered neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

‘Imagine you’re walking down the street and you see the Museum of Old Beliefs,’ the practitioner would tell me.

Then they’d guide me up into a locked room in the museum, tell me to put my cancer in the box, lock it away and leave. I tried a lot of mind games.

In one, I’d visualise my healthy blood cells attacking the cancer cells.

I’d do this while telling myself positive thoughts...

Months went past. I hit my deadline for death.

And I was there, celebrating at my 40th do.

It didn’t happen quite overnight, but I started to feel better.

I kept myself busy and grasped every opportunity to try new therapies.

Of course, it wasn’t always an easy ride.

I had lots of setbacks. At one stage, doctors discovered cancer cells in my cervix.

But I was later given the all-clear.

Now I’ve been cancer-free for 20 years.

And I really believe that carrying on as best I could has helped.

If I read about something new, I tried it. I can’t promise that it’ll work for everyone. I’m just glad I tried it.

Today, I continue to follow a lot of alternative therapies.

I also help others in my work as a life coach. I feel so grateful. Every day I wake up is another miracle.

I’d visualise my healthy blood cells attacking the cancer