In 2014, Patricia had already experienced losing someone to cancer. So when her diagnosis came she knew there was a better way to heal.
Here’s her story in her own words:
Following a beautiful trekking holiday in Peru in May 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. There were 2 tumors but no spread to the lymph glands. Having watched not only my mother but every female member of our family die from this disease, I was all too familiar with the treatment methods and side effects. I decided to refuse conventional treatment and on the way home from the hospital after the consultant’s appointment began the start of what I called ‘my intuitive voice.’
I felt a compulsion to go to our local book store and there on the shelf was a copy of ‘Radical Remission.’ I have never seen the book there since and I do not know what an American book was doing in my small home town in the UK but clearly it was meant for me. I sat up all night reading it and I began to realize that other people had done the same as me and survived.
I began to research diet and the role that sugar plays in feeding the cancer cells. I then began to check my urine daily to check on its acidity which would generally be more acid if I had eaten junk food. I lived off freshly prepared vegetable soups in the winter and organic salad and fruit where possible in the summer.
I addressed the fact that cancer cells do not like a well oxygenated environment, so I began to run and go for long walks with my dog and took dance classes three times a week. I discovered Ty Bollinger’s website and watched his series on ‘Cancer – A global quest.’ and the UK equivalent of Ty which is Chris Woollams.
On Chris’ website I came across a Complementary Therapy Centre in London which offered several different types of treatment including Acupuncture. By this time I had been taking Tibetan herbs and doing regular meditation but when I looked in the mirror the face that looked back at me was one of a dying woman. My eyes had dark circles under them and my face looked gaunt and sallow. I knew there was something else that I needed to do but I just didn’t know what that was.
I had never experienced Acupuncture before and on checking my therapist’s qualifications I found that he (Christopher ) was trained in many Chinese disciplines including martial arts, and Chi Kung. After 2 sessions of acupuncture I began to feel my life’s energy return and I decided to do a donkey trek with a friend in Spain. As I walked with my donkey Cesar, for 9 days through the foothills of the Pyrenees I knew I was recovering. I could feel my strength returning and above all my sense of smell was returning. This was something which I had particularly noticed, the more ill I became the less I could smell and my food tasted of salt no matter what I ate.
By the end of the trek when I looked in the mirror there was a healthy, fresh faced woman looking back at me. I still had more acupuncture treatments to go and I was looking forward to what Christopher would make of my new found health. He was indeed happy and somewhat surprised at the changes. As we worked together over 7 more sessions, I would find myself entering into deep meditations and received very profound messages about how I needed to care for my body and to release all emotional baggage and pain that had caused the cancer. I could also see the cancer cells in my breast moving and responding to my thoughts!
By the time I reached my fourth acupuncture session I was intuitively being led to study chi kung, an ancient Chinese energy practice similar to yoga but directly involved with following the meridians of the body and using our own innate ability to generate and flow our energy. Christopher and I were now working completely in harmony. As he released the blocked energy by opening the meridians of my body and restoring my life force, so I was practicing the art of increasing and flowing the energy. I could not believe how well my body was becoming. I was sixty years old and felt as though I had the body of a twenty year old.
I continue to enjoy wonderful health. I now no longer check my body with scans, I don’t need to. I have completed my training as a teacher in Chi Kung and am currently studying it at a deeper alchemical level. I have written a book called ‘Cancer – A Magical Quest’ and that is exactly what it has been. I have learned so much, met so many amazing people, and now live my life to the full. My diagnosis of cancer radically changed my life for the better. Looking back I wasn’t ‘living,’ I was existing, mainly for others who didn’t even see me as a person anymore. I had completely forgotten what the purpose of my own life was about. Here too is a very big key to recovery – finding a purpose to live and doing just that!
I currently work in the UK as a motivational speaker and counselor for women recovering from childhood physical and sexual abuse.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As of May 2022, Patricia is thriving post-diagnosis.
Her update:
As I attribute much of my healing to my wonderful acupuncturist, I want to share his information here too. The organisation he works for in the UK, and is the Centre featured in the story, is Breast Cancer Haven, London.
https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk Christopher has over twenty years experience with them and in his own private practice, working exclusively with clients recovering from breast cancer. He is now taking his work internationally, and of interest to readers in the States,one of the locations will be California. Please see his name and details below:
Christopher Woodward
The additional healing/health methods I have incorporated into my lifestyle since the posting of my original story is daily Chi Kung exercises (at least once a day for 20 mins) along with Pranayama breathing techniques and I now also attend two zoom sessions a week in Chi Kung run by my acupuncturist Christopher. Before COVID – 19 I used to have regular acupuncture treatments 4 times per year coinciding with the change of seasons and some additional sessions during the winter months if my energy felt depleted. I will resume these as soon as circumstances allow.
Because UK winters last for a long time with little in the way of sunshine I take daily doses of Vitamin D3 and C until the sun appears again. Otherwise good fresh organic fruit and vegetables, long walks with my dog, zumba classes and a very rewarding job is my ongoing therapy.
My current health remains really good. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am alive and well, eight years after being diagnosed with breast cancer with no conventional therapy used. I continue to practice Qigong daily for approximately one hour. I am fortunate enough to be taught more advanced practices over zoom by Christopher Woodward, the acupuncturist who originally treated me. He currently resides in California.
Although I am now past retirement age, I continue to work full time as a counsellor for adult survivors of childhood abuse. My life is full and rich and I have no regrets in taking the path that I did in my treatment. I published my book in December 2020 – ‘Cancer A Magical Quest’
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