This Lady is truly Remarkable, Beautiful, Loving, Caring and Wonderful … meet Shannon Knight.” I know, saying cured is forbidden when it comes to cancer. To some degree in the medical profession I understand, but at the same time our life depends on how we think! We need to be careful with our words and own our healing. As man thinketh so shall it be! I own the healing! We heal our bodies from ailment all the time. Attitude is the driving force behind healing. We cannot ignore this.
Shannon is a remarkable survivor and beat the odds because she left her country. She beat the odds and had victory over stage 3 & 4 breast cancer when she was told she had 3 months to a year to live. She turned down toxic chemotherapy! She now runs “Angels for Shannon” helping people raise money for the same healthy treatments she used that their insurance will not cover in America. Shannon is inspiring, a warrior, happy and always researching! She is a strong advocate and there is never a dull moment with this woman. There are wonderful surprises around every corner. She heals from her pains rather than lay down and do nothing. She now lives life to help others.
I had many surgeries in those two years and I was in a great deal of pain. I had a bilateral mastectomy, bilateral knee replacements, then the left knee had problems because the replacement was put in crooked, so the new surgeons tried correcting it with cutting bone and three screws in my tibia. The surgery failed, so a knew knee replacement was put in correctly. Then my gall bladder was removed, a foot surgery prior to finding out about the cancer that had trouble healing. I had a two inch screw in the top of my foot for almost a year. So using a wheel chair was difficult because of the complications with my surgery from the mastectomy.
The journey was rough, I can still smell the anesthesia and feel all the IV needle pricks and of course I feel the pain in my bones and my chest. Which will eventually fade away with time. I felt the anger well up inside me, sometimes when I look in the mirror at all the scars the doctor says will fade away. They remind me of my battle and the dignity I tried so desperately to hang on to.
I was diagnosed July 19th 2006, my brother’s birthday around 6:45 pm as my world came crashing down around me. I’ll never forget the moment I found out. I looked at the conveniently placed box of tissue and felt like I had to prove I could accept all of this without crying. I just listened without asking questions because I knew if I spoke a single word I would fall to pieces. I finally excused myself from the doctor’s office, went to the restroom, put my hands on the sink and looked in the mirror. And whispered to myself over and over “No, not me, this is not happening.” I couldn’t breathe, I felt tears stinging but would not let them fall. I just kept looking in the mirror, telling myself, “Be strong, don’t cry, you can handle this! Just go back into the doctor’s office and be cool, calm and collect.
I was also pleading to God why? Why me, I had already been through so much, did you have to pick me? I remembered saying to God, “I am telling you Lord this one I cannot handle!” You promised us Lord that you would never give us more than we could handle. I am not as strong as you must think I am. How am I going to drive home? It was close 7 pm when I returned to the waiting area. As just I sat there while the doctor got some paperwork together for me. I wasn’t going home yet, he was sending me to another doctor that was waiting for me after hours. Obviously this was all coordinated and I appreciated how they handled it actually. But I just couldn’t see how I would be able to get to my next evening appointment safely with this news on my mind.
I realized everyone in the office was gone except the doctor and nurse. There was only the light coming from office. It was such an eerie feeling. As I called my mother in CA to tell her what happened and to wish my brother a happy birthday. What an odd thing hit me. A favorite song of mine and my brother’s Unwell by Matchbox 20 was playing on the intercom. While Seattle’s UW Medical Center recommended three types of chemotherapy. The were going to combine two drugs for the IV and the third drug was going to be a pill. It took conviction to stay the course using unconventional cancer treatments and refuse chemo and radiation. With the treatment I chose, I felt healthier while healing from stage III breast cancer.
Who are we if our breasts aren’t perfect or we have too full a bottom or tummy, too many wrinkles, men worried about balding. I’m more aware of that type of consciousness in all of us now more than ever. I think it’s great to take care of yourself because it makes us feel confident and when we’re confident, we can move mountains. Having balance in the area of being the best in every way is what is key through; mind, body and spirit.
I think our soul becomes more beautiful as more scars collect on the outside. Sometimes our outer beauty can become a distraction from working on the beauty of our soul. I think that if people worked out their souls as much as they worked out their bodies, this world would be a better place to live in. I know I’m a little bit of an idealist, but I think a lot of us tend to concentrate on perfecting our physical bodies.
I am a partner in my own success. I am the one with faith, I am the one with the positive attitude because I will not give up. I am the one that will risk and cross that border. I did not rely on a doctor to cure me, I relied on God, doctor and myself. Even then when it is your time to go, it is your time to go. I still believe in healing the body from cancer.
If it wasn’t for the uncommon generosity of everyone whom donated to Angels for Shannon that helped save my life! Seriously…. I could not have gotten my treatments in Mexico without so many people I have never met. Faith, Attitude, (for lungs nebulizer with molecular silver and peroxide) IV vitamin C, IV B17, Ozone therapy, Dendritic Cell Therapy, Dendritic Cell Cancer Vaccine made with my own blood, Hyperthermia, Enzyme Therapy, Magnetic Therapy, Biofeedback, Nutriceuticals and Live pH Balanced Water.
If I could share advice it would be to please make sure that you have a “round table” of knights, your own noble friends, people you can trust, even if it’s just one or two. You’ll make mistakes, believe me you will, forgive each other. There is power in apologies and forgiveness. Most of all there is healing” It’s amazing what people will gossip about and I had friendships that became stronger and some that fell to the wayside by doing things that you would never imagine. I have also seen the worse in people come out even when fighting a terrible disease.
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