I’m a 61-year-old cancer survivor, and outdoor enthusiast, living in Melbourne with my beautiful family of four.
I’ve always had an active lifestyle looking after my diet and my fitness. I was a mountaineer and ski patroller in my twenties. I was less active in my thirties and forties while building my IT career. But I still got outdoors and ran ultra marathons in my fifties when I had my family.
However, despite years of psychotherapy and anti-anxiety drugs, I had unresolved emotional trauma. In my shame, I also smoked and drank heavily in my twenties and forties. These toxic habits came back to bite me even though I gave both up over fourteen years ago.
In June 2019, a bladder cancer diagnosis hit me. A team of surgeons removed my bladder, replacing it with a neo bladder made from 30cm of my small intestine. Although cancer had penetrated the bladder wall, the operation was successful, and there was no sign of disease in my lymph nodes. After a three-month course of chemotherapy, I had my first post-operation scan in March 2020. It was all clear. I was in remission but not cured.
Despite this success, the experience was deeply traumatic. I fell into a dark place after the initial diagnosis. In the hospital, I contracted sepsis and had to be operated on again to remove obstruction in my bowel. It was hard to adjust to the new normal of having a neo-bladder. I doubted my decision to choose the neo bladder over a more orthodox stoma. I felt out of control throughout the whole process.
After the chemo, I wanted to regain my old life and forget the whole experience. I felt the chemo had poisoned me. The only thing that seemed to have changed in my life was that time seemed to move faster. I felt bitter about the experience and that I’d learned nothing.
Fast forward to September 2021, and I was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic bladder cancer in my abdomen. The second diagnosis appeared to be the end of the line. There was no coming back from stage IV, or so I believed. Fortunately, I was seeing a psychologist at the time for unresolved emotional trauma. To my everlasting sense of gratitude, on the night of my devastating diagnosis, she gave me the belief that I could overcome this diagnosis and change my life.
And so began my healing journey to perfect vibrant health that continues to this day. I’ve trodden my own path that includes conventional and alternative physical therapies, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, supplements, and diet. I also took medicinal mushrooms, which were critical to my success the second time around.
However, an equally important part of my healing journey has been transforming my emotional, mental, physical and spiritual body. A healing path through meditation with Dr Joe Dispenza and an emotionally transformational methodology called The Journey with Brandon Bays. More recently, I’ve continued my healing journey using the Wim Hof Method to transform my physical and spiritual body further.
Together with the support of my loving family, these different healing strands have contributed to my perfect vibrant health today.
I set up this site to document my journey and provide the visitor facing a cancer diagnosis with all the information I wished I’d known about in 2019.
This website is the story of my entire healing journey – not just from cancer – my heartfelt wish is that I can help you find your path to perfect vibrant health too.