Exactly 12 years ago, the oncologist at the Royal Marsden delivered the news "it's palliative care only for you now"!
Thankfully I had my soul sister Sara Crossley with me at the time!
When he left the room, we both looked at each other and burst in to hystetrical laughter!
Why did we laugh? Actually it was a reaction to what had just happened - I am known for laughing at the most inappropriate times! So is Sara (it got us in to a lot of trouble when we first met at Manchester Royal Infirmary 25 years ago when we were student nurses).
Anyway the truth is that fear cannot exist in the presence of humour and what ever witch-doctory spells were created in those moments of delivery of this shocking news were instantly blasted away!
The onc. had left the room to give us space to digest the news but soon re-entered upon hearing our crazy raucous laughter - he looked extremely confused!
Amazingly and wonderfully, my body was free of cancer by June that year (2008).
Here is a great interview done by the brilliant Chris Wark for anyone who wants to know more about how I shook off this 'terminal' cancer (and do not misled by the title of the You Tube vid, as Gerson was in fact only a tiny part of the reason I recovered).
Fast forward 12 years and here I am in India for a month undergoing Panchakarma (an Ayurvedic detoxification protocol which involves drinking large amounts of ghee and massage amongst other things).
Since my recovery I take very good care of this precious body - (afterall I have almost lost it on more than one occasion). Yearly Panchakarma treatments are my latest way to honour my body and make sure nothing like cancer ever happens again!
The centre is run by a lovely doctor called Dr Mini Joy and is known as The Gowrisankara - it is a beautiful place in South India - Kerala to be exact.
There are only a few people here and I am the only English person (the rest are Germans) which means I have a lot of time for myself. Guess what Im doing folks? I'm actually writing my book that I have been promising to write for the past 12 years!
For the first time, it is actually flowing which is somewhat of a relief because I wondered if it ever actually would.
I've been gestating this baby for a long time and my waters have finally broken - the process has started!
Wish me luck and buckets of self-discipline please.
I am so happy to be in India again - for some reason I feel more at home here than I do in the UK a lot of the time!
Sending you all love, health and sunshine!
Love Fiona Shakeela
xxx
Thankfully I had my soul sister Sara Crossley with me at the time!
When he left the room, we both looked at each other and burst in to hystetrical laughter!
Why did we laugh? Actually it was a reaction to what had just happened - I am known for laughing at the most inappropriate times! So is Sara (it got us in to a lot of trouble when we first met at Manchester Royal Infirmary 25 years ago when we were student nurses).
Anyway the truth is that fear cannot exist in the presence of humour and what ever witch-doctory spells were created in those moments of delivery of this shocking news were instantly blasted away!
The onc. had left the room to give us space to digest the news but soon re-entered upon hearing our crazy raucous laughter - he looked extremely confused!
Amazingly and wonderfully, my body was free of cancer by June that year (2008).
Here is a great interview done by the brilliant Chris Wark for anyone who wants to know more about how I shook off this 'terminal' cancer (and do not misled by the title of the You Tube vid, as Gerson was in fact only a tiny part of the reason I recovered).
Fast forward 12 years and here I am in India for a month undergoing Panchakarma (an Ayurvedic detoxification protocol which involves drinking large amounts of ghee and massage amongst other things).
Since my recovery I take very good care of this precious body - (afterall I have almost lost it on more than one occasion). Yearly Panchakarma treatments are my latest way to honour my body and make sure nothing like cancer ever happens again!
The centre is run by a lovely doctor called Dr Mini Joy and is known as The Gowrisankara - it is a beautiful place in South India - Kerala to be exact.
There are only a few people here and I am the only English person (the rest are Germans) which means I have a lot of time for myself. Guess what Im doing folks? I'm actually writing my book that I have been promising to write for the past 12 years!
I've been gestating this baby for a long time and my waters have finally broken - the process has started!
Wish me luck and buckets of self-discipline please.
I am so happy to be in India again - for some reason I feel more at home here than I do in the UK a lot of the time!
Sending you all love, health and sunshine!
Love Fiona Shakeela
xxx
