‘We hurt, we heal, we are changed forever‘ – MFNoffke

 

People want to know:

What did you gain through the experience with cancer? Facing a terminal disease like cancer is challenging and humbling; my life fell into perspective for me. I began to appreciate my life: what I had done and who I was.
Did you have an epiphany? I learnt that I had a reserve of strength that I had not realized I had. It was also a wake-up call to a ‘slower time’ and ‘open spaces’; a time and place where I began to thrive. Through the process of facing it and healing I have found my voice and embraced who I was and am. I wrote an acceptance song during this my healing process:

Woman within

Woman without

I’m wholly woman

Without a doubt

I am who I am

I do what I do

Nothing more

Nothing less.

I am wholly human

without a doubt!

 

The experience taught me to:
trust the process of life;
that I am not in control and I can’t force things to happen.
I learnt to roll with the punches of life.
I found my inner hope and equilibrium;
that I will have the courage to face all of life’s challenges.

I was on medication for cancer and went for regular check-ups for 5 years. I also proceeded on a transformative journey of self-discovery where I reclaimed, not only my physical healing but my emotional and spiritual healing too. I will never be the same. I will never take life for granted; and I will always be  aware of cancer. And yes I believe God was with me in the storm all the way.

Life is an adventure. A year later we had gone on a 40 day road trip into Africa. We had been challenged to change the way we were living; to grab life, here and now, because you may never have it later. Don’t put off those things you want to do for tomorrow. Do those things now. This is the reason for my tag line: ‘Life is a gift, be inspired and make it happen.’

 

I want to end with a passage from my Journal written five months before I found out I had cancer.

“[growing older]….. is like a rite of passage or induction not into the profound or productive; not into projects but into the simple, the bold, the peaceful, the awe of life, the confidence, the abundance of simple pleasure and joys; this is the rite of passage into old  (s)age: quietly wise and generous.

You have to be honest about old age. Own it. Not put your head in the sand. The more you admit it and recognize it the easier it is to navigate your ship. Otherwise you keep crashing headlong into it and hurting yourself and others. But it is not easy or comfortable to admit that things are not the way they were. It is easier to go with the flow; which is what you know. We are lazy beings; we want it to be easy. Life is best putting effort into it. If you just take the easy road all the time life becomes boring. You need to invest in your life.”

Although I wrote this before getting cancer it was just as pertinent and wise for my process of facing and processing cancer.

 

It is my hope that people will be touched and helped by my story. As a survivor of cancer I plan to run online workshops for personal transformation and growth very soon. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I wish you Hope, Love and Peace. 

 

Take care and look after yourself – Remember, life is a gift, be inspired and make it happen!

 

If you want to read the sequence of events from the beginning you can find them here:

First  Discovering I had cancer

second Meeting my surgeon

third The question was: One breasts or two

Forth Facing my fear of surgery

Fifth I am on fire: breast surgery recovery

Sixth Why me, Cancer, why me?

Seventh Breast reconstruction

Eighth Bilateral mastectomy’s sexual challenge

ninth My form explored through 3D art

Cancer challenges my personal style