My Breast Cancer scare and how EFT helped me through it. A few weeks ago my world got rocked again by the “C” word, cancer. If you have ever been diagnosed with cancer you know what I mean. It’s a surreal moment in time when all of a sudden you are faced with your own mortality. Is this it, am I dying??? Your world gets flipped upside down! And those things you were afraid to do are now huge regrets, you feel like you’ve been hit by an emotional tidal wave!
I was diagnosed initially with breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma, on my birthday, October 24, 2016, it’s a date I will never forget. I was lucky though, because we caught it early and ultimately what I needed was a lumpectomy, radiation, and I’m now on a hormone inhibitor for 5 years. At the time of diagnosis, however, I had no idea about how much longer I had to live. My emotions were overwhelming, but with the help of EFT/tapping, and my friends and family I was able to get through that very stressful period in my life.
Because emotions and illnesses are linked, I realized that I needed to make changes in my life and the biggest one was leaving the agency I had been with for 10 years. My dream was to start my own private practice and do EFT trainings. A year later with the help of EFT/tapping and EMDR I found the courage I needed to leave the agency that had created a lot of security for me. It wasn’t easy, fear can immobilize us and keep us stuck in relationships and jobs that no longer serve us, and EFT can help us get unstuck. It helped me to let go and trust my internal guidance and what was right for me.
The cancer scare unfortunately doesn’t end there. A few weeks ago I had my first annual MRI, just routine to make sure the cancer wasn’t back. I was confident it was just a routine check up, I’d be fine since the odds of getting cancer again were at about 11% with the treatment I had undergone and was undergoing. Well I got “the call” again with my results, and they said the test showed something now in both breasts. My world started to swirl and I fought to hold back the tears as she gave me the information, I feared the worse….. the cancer was back. This was the beginning of a very intense emotional roller coaster ride, of more tests (ultrasound and mammogram) that led to an MRI biopsy (left breast) and an Ultrasound biopsy (right breast).
I started using EFT/tapping right away as the powerful emotions came up. Every time I told someone what was going on I would start crying and could barely talk. The strategy I used was to tap as I was talking about it, and within 15 to 30 seconds the intense feelings would subside and I felt more grounded. I’m not shy about tapping in public. :) Eventually, I was able to share what was happening and tapping wasn’t needed. This time was still stressful, tapping doesn’t make us numb to the world, but it does reduce the intensity of extreme emotions. Needless to say it was a huge help!
The final outcome was both suspicious areas were benign, I was elated and feel like I have a second chance at life! What cancer has taught me is to try and live my life to the fullest extent that I can, so when it’s time for me to go…..there will be no regrets.