An avid runner and kick boxer, Linda was a single mom of two young boys and going through a divorce when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 45.
After complaining of bloating, fatigue, sore breasts and pains from the stomach down her back and leg. When she first went to see her gynecologist, he told her that she had cysts on her ovaries; she was in menopause and hormones were the reason why her breasts were so sore. He suggested she have a mammogram just to be sure.
Well, Linda had been having mammograms since she was 30 because of the history of breast cancer in her family. Her grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 62 and her aunt at the age of 38. The mammogram showed cysts in both breasts but the doctor told her that he wasn’t particularly worried about this. He did recommend that she have the cysts on her ovary removed and thankfully, it was benign.
“One day as I was lying on my back, I discovered a lump in my breast and immediately called my doctor. He said it was probably the cyst and that it had gotten a little larger because of the recent surgery. Not to worry. But the lump got bigger over the next few weeks so my doctor scheduled me for a lumpectomy. I was in the office having the stitches removed two weeks later when the results unexpectedly came in. I was more than nervous. Many things were running through my mind. My heart dropped when the doctor came in and said, “I am so sorry.” I thought I would die right there. Here I was all by myself…all I could do was think about my boys…. What would they do? Who will raise them? Then I thought of my mother….she didn’t have a clue. I hadn’t told anyone before this about the lump. They would all be devastated.”
Linda then started researching breast cancer on the Internet and that scared her even more. Her family was very supportive and tried to help her investigate her options. Finally, a friend told her that he knew someone who had breast cancer that had spread to her bones. She went to some ‘Alternative Health’ institute in Florida and
he suggested that she speak with her. She did…and it turned out to be Hippocrates Health Institute. This gave Linda some comfort but she was still leaning towards having surgery. Her doctors were recommending different options. One suggested removing the lumps. Another suggested that she remove one breast, and yet another recommended that she should have both breasts removed possibly followed by six months of chemotherapy! Linda ended up having a double mastectomy. Her doctor informed her that the surgery was
a success. They got all of the cancer, there was no cancer in her lymph nodes, and she did not have to go through chemotherapy. Linda felt so relieved and knew in her heart that she had made the right decision. If she had the one breast removed, she felt sure that she would have had to go through the chemotherapy treatment and she would have
to live the next few years wondering if she was going to get cancer in her next breast.
“It was amazing,” Linda said that within five days after she got home from the hospital, she felt so good. She started juicing and was soon exercising again. Linda learned about lymphatic massage and exercise and began doing it every day, knowing that if she didn’t, she could get lymph edema. She felt that she was on the road to recovery!
About a year later, Linda started having stomach pains again – more cysts on her ovaries and they were bursting. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t breathe. She had too many white blood cells, blood in her urine and kept having irregular pap tests. Her doctor advised her to get a full abdominal hysterectomy, and surgery was booked for December 15th. Then someone told her about the healing benefits of wheatgrass and Linda started doing 6 ounces a day (2 ounces 3 times a day) for a full 3 weeks. Four days before the surgery they tested her again, and her white blood cell count was normal, no more blood in the urine and her pap test was also normal. Her surgeon was amazed and asked her what she had been doing. When Linda told her that she had been drinking wheatgrass, her doctor told her to keep it up….but still recommended she have the surgery, which she did.
Now it is a year later again…and Linda recently spent three weeks at Hippocrates absorbing an immense amount of information from their three week Life Change Program.
Her most liberating experience at Hippocrates was when she was in a group of 75 people during a lecture, and there was a doctor speaking about lymphatic massage. Linda shyly raised her hand to ask a question… “My chest is swollen and my arm is sore…what can I do for this?” Linda felt such shame and embarrassment about having had the mascectomy that she didn’t want to look at herself. The doctor asked her if she would mind taking off her shirt in front of everyone. She will always remember that incredible moment. She did not think she had the courage, but suddenly she asked everyone if they were ready. A hush fell over the room. She could hear her own heart pounding.
“I took my top off…in front of everyone…when I had thought that it was the most disgusting thing that anybody could ever see because that is what I saw in my eyes…that I was disgusting.” But Linda was stunned to see the faces of those watching…stunned to see their reaction. The whole room was silent, but the looks on their faces were not that of disgust. They appeared supportive and honored. Afterwards everyone approached her with loving support and told her how beautiful she was. Linda felt beautiful again! And as the doctor massaged her stomach, liver and her chest and everyone watched as they saw him moving her lymph nodes. The swelling went away and so did the pain.
She says this whole experience completely changed her life forever. She needed this to happen. How long had she felt unhappy and angry? She was mad at the world. She had even questioned why she was going to Hippocrates Health Institute…what was the point? She was breastless and nothing would change that!
It is very clear to Linda now. She was meant to have this experience. She is meant to help other women going through the same experience realize there is no need for shame…they will not be loved any less because they do not have breasts. It is okay…. “We don’t need to have reconstructive surgery. We can and must accept that we made this choice. We must be strong. We must have courage. We don’t have to put ourselves through any more pain. In society, women are loved for their breasts—the bigger the better and if they aren’t large enough, they have implants put in! This makes it especially hard for those women who had no choice but to go through such radical surgery.”
Linda knows now that she must teach women how to love themselves for who they are. She now looks at her cancer as a gift! She beat cancer….it did not beat her. She has more energy ever and feels half her age, biking and roller-blading sometimes three to four hours a day. She is sure to do her chest exercises every day and wants to help educate other women about lymph edema and how very important these lymphatic massages are.
“I know now that when people look at me, they look at me because of me…and not my breasts.” She no longer feels embarrassed about losing her breasts and wants women to know that there is no need to feel ashamed. It is okay! She knows she is a beautiful woman. “Having cancer has taught me so much. It has made me appreciate life and want to help other people. It has made me a better person.”
