“When I left Leon’s, I felt like I could take on the world again.”
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2021, my world collapsed. Not just because of the diagnosis itself, but also because of everything the word cancer meant to me. Fifteen years earlier, I lost my best friend to breast cancer. In my mind, cancer had been almost synonymous with death for years. My head was filled with fear, and I knew that, alongside the medical treatment ahead of me, I had to find peace somewhere.
Searching for mental peace and support
Even before my hospital treatment began, I contacted Energetisch Centrum Leonardus. Not because I expected energetic therapy to take away my illness, but because I was looking for support to better endure the process mentally and physically.
Fortunately, after additional testing, it appeared that no metastases were visible. In January 2022, an intensive treatment process began with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, followed by surgery and radiation. I look back with great appreciation on the care I received in the hospital. At Zuyderland, I had a permanent treatment team with familiar faces. Especially during a period when everything is uncertain, that provided a lot of confidence and stability.
Experiences during chemotherapy
During my chemotherapy treatments, I visited Leonardus every week. My greatest fear was not even the treatment itself, but the nausea and the idea that I would become very ill from the chemotherapy. Ultimately, that fear turned out to be greater than the reality. The process was difficult, but from a medical perspective, it went better than I had previously feared.
From the beginning, I have been open about the supplementary care I used alongside my hospital treatments, including the energetic treatments at Leonardus and guidance from a homeopathic doctor. Within my treatment team, that choice was respected.
At Leonardus, I primarily found something that is difficult for me to put into words. After a treatment, I felt more peace in my mind and more relaxation in my body. Sometimes I felt as if my head became completely empty. I found that particularly pleasant. When I left Leon’s, I felt like I could take on the world again. It was precisely that sense of peace and mental resilience that gave me a lot of support during my treatment period.
Recovery, setting boundaries, and the future
After my surgery in August 2022, there was a complete pathological response. This was followed by radiation, rehabilitation, and eventually a gradual return to work. It was an intensive period, but I look back with gratitude on how the process unfolded.
What has perhaps changed the most for me is the way I now look at myself. I have become much more aware of my own boundaries. Whereas I used to easily overstep my own limits, I now feel much more confident in indicating when my body needs rest. That is perhaps the most important lesson I have taken from this period.
Of course, the check-ups remain nerve-wracking, and the fear that the disease might return one day is still present at times. Nevertheless, I try not to let my life be defined by that. I do not want to live in fear. It brings me nothing.
I see my experience with Leonardus as a valuable addition to the regular care I received. Not as a replacement, but as support during a period when I was looking for peace, confidence, and mental strength.
To others entering a similar process, I would like to say: find something that helps you get through this period. For me, that was Leonardus. I cannot prove exactly what caused what, but intuitively, it helped me.