by Frances Taylor-Marshall, aged carer, nanny and counsellor, Sydney.

I am writing to express my heartfelt thanks to the Universal Medicine Practitioners who played a part in my healing processes. I am in deep appreciation for their super loving and professional care during the year I underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for lymphoma.

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in August 2013 and in late June 2014, was told that my body had had a complete metabolic response to treatment, therefore leaving me completely clear of any cancer. My haematologist said that given the stage and location of my cancer, he was in the beginning quite concerned for me, therefore, as he stated, he was “truly thrilled” that my body had responded as well as it did.

I feel this healing was in no small part thanks to Universal Medicine and its teachings and practitioners. Continue reading “Healing from Cancer: Embracing Conventional Medicine and Universal Medicine” →

by Julie Snelgrove, Merchandiser, Somerset, UK

Three weeks ago I hurt my big toe. The pain was intense at the time of injury. As I was crying in pain I could feel the pain was coming from a much deeper place than just my toe!

The wound was too painful for me to allow the paramedic to clean it up, so they took me to the local minor injuries unit where I could have Entonox (gas and air). I’ve had this before so thought: “Ah, that’ll be ok”.

I was sitting in a chair when they brought the gas in. At that moment my head was feeling vulnerable so I asked my daughter to get me a pillow. As she was getting it – I started breathing the Entonox. I took a couple of deep breaths and then the words the doctor said kept repeating as I lost consciousness and collapsed sideways in the chair. In that moment a part of me was pleased this had happened and for a split second I WANTED this depth of numbness. Then inside me something screamed “Get me out of this now!” I chose to come back and said No to the numbness. It felt like I was dragging myself out of mud and I never want to feel like that again. Continue reading “Choices, Choices, Choices” →

by Susan Lee, UK. 

I recently became aware of how stubborn I can be – I have always known it, but this time I felt it at a deeper level. A week or so after this awareness I became constipated.

A few days later I noticed some blood along with my faeces – twice this occurred before I took action.  As I am writing this I can see how deep-rooted this stubbornness is and how it has become part of my day-to-day living. I will not listen to my body giving me signs that everything is not OK until the last minute.

My first appointment with my local General Practitioner was great – he gave me an internal examination and the time spent with him felt as though he was a deeply caring man. He found nothing conclusive and referred me to my local hospital.

My next appointment was quite a different experience and, in retrospect, I realized I had not been taking the events seriously. I can now see, in hindsight, that I did not wish to even contemplate that I may have colon cancer, as this would mean that I would need to start taking responsibility for how I have lived my life. For many years now it has made sense to me that illness didn’t just happen to me, and that the way I responded to stress somehow harmed my body.   Continue reading “Letting go (of my stubbornness) and Learning to Love my Colon.” →

by Fiona McGovern, Isle of Arran, Scotland.

Two days ago I was in hospital for a surgical procedure. The porter took me in a wheelchair and a student nurse accompanied us. We all took the lift up to the surgery ward. As it went up it stopped at a floor, the doors opened and a man in his red dressing gown stood looking in. He had no intention of getting in the lift. At the time I was laughing. He looked at me sternly: “You are far too happy”, he said. “You can’t be ill.” The doors closed and we continued upwards, slightly bemused by his words and tone of voice.

I commented that this kind of remark was often said to me. Another person had said “It is bizarre that you can laugh with all you are going through” and another said “You must have bad moments”, by which they meant days.

I pondered on all these comments and wondered why it is assumed by many that illness means misery.

Are we looking at illness in a false light? Continue reading “How Cancer has Changed my Life.” →

by Fiona McGovern

Last week as I sat in the over-full waiting room for my oncology appointment, a woman passed me by handing out questionnaires on the chemotherapy and cancer services in our local health board area. I asked if I could have one and she apologised as she had not recognised me as a cancer patient. She explained that the number of cancer patients was predicted to rise by 9% in the next few years and the services could not cope as they are at present, so the questionnaire was to establish where their resources should be spent in order to best cope.

I pondered on how best to answer the questions.  I felt supported by the present system but knew too well that some basic questions were not being asked: why do so many women have breast cancer?  How are women living that creates such an illness in their bodies? How can we educate and support our young girls to be, so that breast cancer is not inevitable for them? Continue reading “Breast Cancer: what links us?” →

by HR Professional in Healthcare, London, UK 

Some years ago, I believed that getting ill was a sign of weakness, and that going to the doctor was not necessary.  I was strongly independent, and pushed hard to keep going, feeling that if I got ill, or used my local health services, that meant I had done something wrong, and that others might judge me.  I also went through a phase where I didn’t want to use any pharmaceutical medicines, as I wanted to avoid putting ‘toxins’ into my body.  There were times when I had an infection or an ache or a pain and I would struggle through, trying to find some natural remedy, which usually didn’t work.  I prided myself when I spoke to colleagues and friends that I rarely saw my doctor and, looking back this was rather odd, as I have worked in the National Health Service (NHS) for 33 years, in many forms of care environments, yet I never actually considered that I myself may need support or care from the NHS or my local doctor (General Practitioner /GP) at any time.

Continue reading “Seeing my Doctor is now Part of my Self-care” →

by Fiona McGovern, Isle of Arran, Scotland 

Where I live cancer seems rife; every day we hear of another neighbour, acquaintance or friend with a diagnosis of cancer. Personally I have metastatic breast cancer; I was diagnosed six years ago at the age of 47. Finding the lump now 9 years ago was a huge shock and yet underneath the shock I heard a very still voice say: “This is your time to heal, Fiona.” I began an outward search for an answer, and as I have already written elsewhere on this blog (Breast Cancer: “Knowing what I know now, I would definitely do things differently”), this took me way off path.

When I began to work with Serge Benhayon seven years ago, I began my return to true healing, to the expression of the real Fiona – a beautiful playful wise woman, whom I had lost in all my outward searching.

How did I reconnect with her? I married conventional medicine, in the form of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with esoteric medicine. Practically, the first step was to open myself to what the doctors could do for me. The second was to throw out all my ideals and beliefs about healing – and there were many!! Once I did this I found accepting chemotherapy straightforward. I stopped worrying about the side-effects and instead had fun with the wigs. I am now on my third, a blonde one, and am researching whether blondes really do have more fun!!! Continue reading “My Marriage of Conventional Medicine and Esoteric Medicine” →

By Adrienne Ryan, Brisbane, Australia

A few months ago I was feeling not so great in my body. I was overweight, tired, my period had been going haywire and I had been experiencing discomfort in what I thought was my left ovary area. It had been some time since I had gone to my GP. Usually I visited him when I was too sick to work. This time was different. I was still working and going about my day-to-day life, but I realised that I wasn’t feeling good and I wanted to know why. I decided to book in for a thorough check-up to see what was happening with my 46 year old body.

I enjoyed being there with my doctor, taking the time to say, “Hey, I’m not sick sick, but I don’t feel well either.”

We did some hormone tests and these were all normal. It turned out the area I thought was ovary discomfort was actually my bowel and we scheduled a colonoscopy. My GP also recommended a bone scan. Continue reading “Beautiful Bowels and Beyond” →

by Ulrike Baker, Lismore Heights, Australia

Twenty-six years ago whilst pregnant with my second child I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a dysgerminoma. Once the tumour the size of a football was removed, I went to term with the pregnancy and delivered my baby.

One month after the birth, scan results showed the cancer had spread throughout my uterus and to the other ovary and the radical treatment offered did not seem an option to me.  This treatment was radiotherapy and a radical hysterectomy. I did not have confidence in my doctor and on some level felt I would not survive the treatment. Subsequently, I discharged myself from the hospital.

The months that followed were filled with reading, seeking and trialing many alternative therapies, including energetic and psychic healing, macrobiotic diet, buying under the counter kombu, coffee enemas (oh, too much detail!), etc etc.

I felt I was getting stronger, with psychic surgeons saying ‘the mountain’ in my abdomen was shrinking. In actual fact I was getting worse to the point where I could no longer walk and was a shadow of my size now. This was all in the dogged belief I could heal through energetic/alternative means alone. Continue reading “An Angel Calls” →

by Fiona McGovern, Isle of Arran, Scotland

I have just finished 18 weeks of weekly chemotherapy treatments for metastatic breast cancer.  (My breast cancer story is also on this blog under “Breast Cancer: knowing what I know now I would definitely do things differently”.) For me this means four hours travelling, part by boat and part by car, and so it all takes a full day. I now have time off and time to reflect.

For these 18 weeks I have sat in a day ward full of other women receiving their treatment. As soon as one seat is vacated another woman fills it. In the oncology waiting room it can be standing room only and you may have to allow hours to be seen.

I have felt how pressured the medics, the receptionists and the nurses are. I have also felt the anxiety of families, the anger of many of the women, the fear in some, the denial, the hoping, and the coping on the surface and in some the complete self-pitying and identification with the illness. I also sense in some there’s the attitude that life begins after chemo…. that we can get back to how things were before cancer and chemo…..  Continue reading “Reflections after Chemotherapy” →