“Remember, ‘Just when the Caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a Butterfly!’ Author Unknown.”

First | Previous Picture | Next Picture | Last | Thumbnails

On September 5, 2006, my life was forever altered by the heavy words that dripped from the nurse’s lips: “We found cancerous cells,” she spewed in the softest way I could have never expected.  I was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer at the age of 22. Needless to say, “devastated” was an understatement.  I was rocketed into a new world, which I knew would house me for the rest of my life: The World of Cancer. I began chemotherapy.  However, I knew that, for me, chemo would not be enough. I needed to change everything if I was going to survive. But first, I cried for a week straight.  I cried myself dizzy.  I cried until all I knew about my world and life simply vanished; I knew nothing and had to start over. I quit smoking and made dietary and lifestyle changes. I quit my job and began to sink into a grueling chemo regime. I was trying desperately to stay positive but was failing miserably.  I was slipping into a deep depression.

It was then that I heard about The Wellness Community – West Los Angeles.  I started attending the free yoga and meditation classes. After a warm and welcoming interview, I was placed in a support group with other people fighting the same battle. I’ll never forget my first group at TWC-WLA: For the first time since my diagnosis, I felt safe, protected and understood.  I cried a lot.  I talked a lot. And most of all, I knew I was in the right place.  The meditation I learned has turned into a daily private practice; it has been hugely instrumental in my recovery.  When I quiet my mind, I re-connect with my spirit. And the yoga got me into my body.  I felt beautiful – baldhead and all – knowing that my sore and beaten body was healing. My group has supported me entirely through this experience. They were there for me as I quickly jumped ahead to Stage III and a painful Stage IV with metastasis to a handful of places in my skeletal system. And they have also been there to hear the good news. I had the painful task of telling them that things were worsening, but I likewise had the overwhelming joy of sharing my miraculous recovery.

After getting involved with a number of alternative treatments, my once excruciating pain has disappeared and the tumor markers in my blood have returned to 100% normal!  The once HER2-positive, mango-sized tumor in my breast has nearly vanished. It is now the size of a blueberry and is shrinking daily.  And that’s without surgery!  I am on my way to an incredible healing from an “incurable, extremely fast growing, terminal” cancer. And if I hadn’t found TWC-WLA, I know I would still be curled up in a ball, on the couch, planning my funeral.  I am so thankful for all the free services at TWC-WLA. Money has definitely been an issue everywhere but there. At TWC-WLA, I have never once been asked for a single dime.

I attribute a large part of my recovery to TWC-WLA. Regardless of how long I choose to utilize its services, I will always hold a special place in my heart for the memories that were created there at the most difficult time in my life.  In a scary world, I had a heaven that was open to me whenever I needed it. Thank you to the angels that run the place, and the beautiful people that choose to use it for recovery as well. I know that regardless of what happens with my situation in the future, be it good or bad, TWC-WLA will always be willing to cradle me the way it did in those early days of diagnosis.