Hello My Name is Rachel Bykovny.
First and foremost, I am a wife, pet mama, cancer wellness advocate, and a mindset coach. My sole mission in life is to help others navigate the messy waters of healing. I experience so much joy sharing the tools I utilize to maintain a Cancer Healing Mindset. Living with cancer does not have to be doom and gloom. With the right attitude and motto, you too will feel empowered to “Fear Less, Slay More” just as I do.
When I started My blog in 2015, I declared myself to be the “Breast Cancer Maven.” By definition, a maven is an accumulator of knowledge who seeks to pass on their information to others. To be honest, I never wanted to be a maven of this subject, who does? Post-diagnosis, I found myself feeling helpless, lost, and like a victim.
My plan of attack to avoid the victim mentality was through knowledge, strength, and empowerment. Learning as much as I could about all aspects of cancer allowed me to play a very active role in my treatment and healing process. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to “cure cancer” or “prevent cancer.” There are ways to focus on factors you can control in order to give yourself the best chance for living a long healthy life.
I strive each and every day to improve the way I look at the world. I wake up daily and make the choice to believe that it is possible to experience a fulfilled and hopeful life despite having cancer. The decisions I make are geared towards living with more passion, purpose, joy, love, adventure, and excitement.
This blog is a way for me to share my unique experiences in a totally uncut raw way. My heart overflows with joy anytime my experiences helps just one person turn their mindset around. Opening the door of possibility of belief that they too have the right to choose a more positive and healing mindset. Cancer no longer has to be a state of living in constant fear. Instead we can choose to see this as an opportunity to seize the day with genuine gratitude and a fearless healing mindset.
Read About My Initial Diagnosis in 2012 Here
and here is my CANCER story:
What I am sharing is a truthful account of my experience since discovering my recurrence in the summer of 2016. It was one small lump in my breast right where it had also been removed four years before in my 2012 with conventionally treated (surgery, radiation, hormonal) scarline.
I spent the next 2.5 years treating my cancer holistically rotating various protocols every six weeks and monitoring my progress along the way. My primary treatment plan involved the use of Bloodroot Black salve both internally and externally. If you are unfamiliar with this, I will warn you to be careful when googling. The images are not for the faint of heart. While this process was very painful and life hindering, I was able to keep my cancer stable until the beginning of the year.
Then something changed.
It was as if my body decided enough was enough. . . with the painful salves and it started producing tumors in both my breasts. These tumors were growing rapidly and multiplying like rabbits. I was declining so rapidly it was almost unbelievable. By the time all was said and done I now have lesions in my brain, lymphs, breasts, sternum, spine, sacrum and lungs.
I began to lose hope and started saying things I had l never said before like “I don’t know how much longer I can do this” or “What is the point in fighting so hard just to suffer like this?” I started asking for guidance on which direction to go.
In swoops the Hope4Cancer Treatment Centers. https://hope4cancer.com/ I have a few virtual friends that had been posting about their great successes there. I decided it was time to do something different to try and get different results.
When I arrived there, I wheeled into the building because I couldn’t walk. I was so sick from the airplane (because of brain tumors I did not know I had) they went to work on making me comfortable right away. I was violently vomiting and had the worst headache of my life. I couldn’t swallow even water without choking.
My first 7 days in the clinic, I was being fed and hydrated via IV nearly 20 hours a day and could hardly leave my room. My state of affairs was looking pretty bleak. Also My husband said he literally said his goodbyes to me on a few occasions. Despite being so sick, I was determined to keep pushing.
I spent day and night going from therapy to therapy working to heal my body. With some of my favorites being getting bloodwork completed to see when my body will be ready to begin IPT (low dose chemo), also Photodynamic Therapy and favorite nap times is in the hyperbaric chamber. As soon as my head hits the pillow in there, I am knocked out for an entire hour.
My Drs. and nurses held my hand and never once let on that they thought I was hopeless. Instead they took care of me the whole time and made sure my pain was managed. Slowly but surely as time passes I am healing each and everyday.
I just keep doing the work, receiving the treatments, and keeping faith that I am a walking miracle. Perhaps your healing path leads you down a different road. A road filled with different forks, potholes, and u-turns. Regardless of how you are traveling to find healing, one constant is your mindset. You must have the right mindset if you want to heal.
I have been learning through my self reflection that I have never really dealt with any emotions my whole life. Anything bad that happened to me was shoved in “a black hole” in my mind, never to be thought of or found again. As I am going through this healing journey, my mind is starting to unlock these memories one by one. Some of the things I am remembering have me double-taking and wondering if they are real memories or just something my mind made up.
Here at the clinic we practice recall healing. Basically the belief is that cancer is also an emotional disease. In questioning many patients, you will find that typically within six months or a year before their diagnosis, something traumatic occurred in their life. Something that was shocking enough. . . . that it set off some automatic physiological responses in the body because you went into fight or flight mode. It could be as major as a death, divorce, job loss, relocation, etc.
I have been having a really challenging time narrowing down what my trauma was that caused my stable cancer to go haywire so quickly. I try to avoid dwelling on the past too much as I am really present moment focused, however, I think it is important to get some clarity up on what happened so I can work on healing it.
–Continue Reading–
Unbreakable faith and belief that miracles happen. If you are willing to do the work, to buy all the way in, to do whatever it takes to get better, your chances of healing are going to multiply. I know how important sleep is for healing. Especially during the hours of 10pm-2am which is when I have my most problematic sleep patterns. I do wear blue light blocking glasses starting at 9pm which helps let my mind know its time to start winding down. I have this new sleep music device, I got at the clinic that has been helping as well. The strange thing is that I wake up at 2am without fail every night. At that time, my mind thinks its already slept the whole night.
All of a sudden I just feel like I have made this remarkable turnaround. I am walking around much easier without getting winded. Also most of my hard tumors are softer, smaller, or gone. The worst offender has gone from a huge angry red walnut to a tiny little peanut in just five weeks. These are results I can see and feel!
I am a miracle in the works. I see how I get better everyday. It’s unexplainable but I just keep believing I am gonna be one of those survivor stories of how I was revived from my deathbed to live the long and happy life I deserve. I’m shooting for a celebration in New Orleans for my 40th birthday this year. I know I am going to make it with ease because I have unwavering faith in my ability to heal.
If interested in going to Hope4Cancer: the best bet is to call & speak with their amazing admissions staff. They ask you a lot of stuff & base their plan of action on those answers. Everyone comes in here and does different programs which vary in cost. I worked with Claudette and loved her. Her number is +1 (619) 536-9141 and her email is claudette@hope4cancer.com if you want to give her a call. They are not “pushy salespeople” and genuinely want to help line you up for the care you need. Also, Tara Mann is the patient advocate for the center and can point you in right direction as well or answer some questions.
Remember the price is “all inclusive.” From accommodations to gourmet vegetarian meals to laundry service is included for you and a caregiver so you can focus entirely on treatment and healing. It includes hassle free transportation to – from the airport and all around for errands. With an interesting side trip to Rosarito being only 20 minutes away where Sanoviv another fine clinic is located. The culture is really neat there. The beach is fun and there is this really cool little flea market kinda experience.
Moving forward: I created a Facebook group because this is the help I need right now. Sometimes our best lessons are those we try to teach others. Keeping my mind right while getting better is really working. I also picked my blog back up and have been writing there. My husband jokes that these brain tumors have awakened my creative side. Sleeping right now is off and on, so I have alot of waking hours to do things and wishing you love while I am also providing guidance on your journey. http://www.lovelightpeas.com/what-i-do-every-day-to-slay-cancer/
Love and light to you all.
Rachel Bykovny 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCcSF9KXHY