There is no way of preparing for a cancer diagnosis and I didn’t have many resources to guide me in the ways that I needed. I didn’t know what I needed. As someone who has had the luxury of being healthy for most of my life, it was a devastating shock to the system. The loss of control was debilitating and I spent weeks in terrified anticipation of the treatment and the long term effects it would have on my body. My first instinct was to seek naturopathic and nutritional counselling and this path led to Cathy.
What I found in Cathy was a real-life angel, and the coach I needed to get through. Cathy was an empathetic ear that gave me the tools to manage side effects and stress through diet and nutrition; she was the “friend-who’s-been-there” who understood where I was at physically, emotionally & spiritually. Learning more about what my body would need to heal and recover helped me to regain some of the control I had lost. Working with Cathy brought me back to solid ground, where there was a plan I could follow one day at a time, and soon I began to visualize myself being ok again. It was a game-changer for my mental health.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have met Cathy during an extremely difficult time in my life, and she continues to support me. The work she does has been invaluable to me and I wish all cancer patients could have someone like her in their corner.