I once told a breast cancer patient, ” Indeed you should consider yourself very lucky.” She retorted, “What is so lucky? I have already got cancer!”  I went on to explain that I have many patients who really suffered because of their cancer – they were in pain, had swollen arm after surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. For her, she looked fine and good without any problems. Is that not really lucky? What if you were to know that Brenda, the author of this book, The Gift of Cancer, had to battle with three cancers over 14 years, and she considered cancer, after all that she went through, as a gift! Where is the logic?

Why Cancer is a Gift

After her third cancer diagnosis, Brenda realized that her cancer was more than just a physical threat.

• Deep in my heart I suspected there was a purpose to my illness. Seeking that purpose became my quest. When I was finally able to see cancer as my teacher, not my enemy, I began the difficult journey of healing from the inside out.
• My survival depended on my letting go of old patterns that had opened the possibility of cancer to emerge. The cancer had come as a messenger to let me know if I didn’t change, I was going to die. Without changing anything but my perception, I turned the cancer into a helpful messenger, a gift.
• Having cancer taught me the hard way that healing negative, limiting beliefs, misperceptions and denied emotions is the most important thing we can do if we want health and wellbeing in our lives. This is authentic healing … mind, body and spirit coming into harmony to create optimum health.

Letting Go and Letting God

• I uncovered a valuable insight … My need to be in control coupled with my attachment to results was hindering me in countless ways.
• Once I was willing to let go … I found peace. I started to appreciate the power of letting go and allowing God’s help in solving my problems. That’s when my life began to flourish.
• Before the cancer, I was consumed by fearful thoughts of self-pity and feelings of lack. I processed everything in my life from a foundation of negativity and looked for what was wrong with me and everyone else. It never occurred to me to look for what was right and wonderful.
• My cancer was a gift … it had come to propel me toward my spiritual growth, assisting me in transforming my negativity into life-affirming perspectives and beliefs.
• I began to understand that by loving my cancer, I was actually loving myself. As long as I battled against it, it would battle against me.

Follow My Advice Or You Die, I  Am The Expert!

In pages 94-95, Brenda related her meeting with her oncologist. This was after being diagnosed with her third cancer.

Oncologist: Brenda, I know we’ve had our differences about some of your treatment, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give it to you straight. It is my best professional opinion that within one to three years, and let me stress that three years is stretching it, there is a very good probability your cancer will metastasize.”

Brenda: What does that mean exactly?

Oncologist: What it means, exactly, is that it will spread to your bones, brain, or lungs. Please understand, this is not a big stretch. It is a very predictable prognosis for many women who have had breast cancer. Let me add, Brenda, if that happens, there is a very high probability that at that point, chemotherapy won’t be much help. On the other hand, if you do chemotherapy right away, you will have a chance of living at least five years, maybe more.

Brenda (thinking to herself:  This is my prize? Maybe five more years? Five more years of being sick? Five more years of feeling like hell? Five more years of waiting for the other shoe to drop? Was this the best I could hope for? The best modern medicine had to offer?): Can you guarantee me at least five years if I do your protocol?

Oncologist: I am afraid not, Brenda. No one can give you a guarantee. And let me add this: if you refuse this treatment, the probability of your cancer metastasizing within a year is high. And if that happens, you probably won’t make it. I urge you to make your decision quickly. It is imperative that you begin treatment right away.

Brenda wrote, As I listened to his words of doom, my worst fears came to the surface, once again I began to questions myself.

As I read through  Brenda’s conversation with her oncologist, I could not help but ask, Is this not the same, fear-instilling script being played over and over again — in American, here and many other parts of the world?

After that she said “no” to chemotherapy, even if she was told that her life was a risk without it. Breda chose alternative treatment instead.  To her, the path to true healing is to find the connection of the mind, body, and spirit. Twenty-four years later I am healthy. Grateful for the road travelled and eager to help others awaken to their heart-centered power and purpose.

Brenda had this message for all of us:

• Doctors do not cure anyone.
• Throwing drugs at a problem is just adding more poison to an already poisoned system.
• We understand how toxins enter the body through the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink. But there are other equally threatening toxins that can affect our wellbeing … emotional and mental toxicity … also creates imbalance and ultimately leads to disease.

Patients, heal yourself

• Listen to our inner voice, trust our intuition, and look at the true source of healing.
• When we are willing to look deep within and take responsibility for our choices, we have the power to alter the course of our lives in miraculous and unexpected ways.
• Giving power to an outside source, regardless of who or what that source is, renders one powerless to change any existing circumstance.
• There are no quick fixes or magic bullets.
• Not everyone survives this disease.
• We each hold the key to our own healing. We cannot heal someone else.
• Patient must have a deep desire to heal.

Spirituality

• We are raised in a society where we learn to trust in experts and things outside ourselves. I would be considered crazy for going against expert advice. But my decision was not about being logical or going with the status quo. My decision was about seeking a higher guidance and honoring that guidance to the best of my ability.
• Everything that occurs in life exists by divine orchestration. Nothing is a mistake. There are no accidents and we are not the victim of any circumstances or person. I believe everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason.
• There is no right or wrong choices on this journey. Each choice is made for a reason … Every experience is meant to teach something, while simultaneously bringing us closer to our spiritual selves.
• The body is always talking to us. Sometimes the conversation is subtle and sometimes, the conversation is not subtle but communication is always happening. It merely requires that we listen.
• Forgiveness is essential to heal not only our bodies but also enhances our spiritual growth.
• Healing isn’t exclusively a physical tenet. We must address our emotional and spiritual bankruptcy as well.

Change

• I’d like to wrap up with one of the most difficult pills to swallow. Change….even when faced with a life-threatening situation, we are still resistant to change. Change brings up fear. Even when the habits and patterns of our lives are destructive, we tend to stay stuck in those patterns.
• Change, as difficult as it seems, is what life is all about. To resist it is to create a life filled with pain and struggle.