“My head was full. I noticed that I no longer had any peace in my body.”
When I was diagnosed with hormonal breast cancer at the end of August, my life entered a medical tailspin overnight. An intensive treatment process followed, including sixteen rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, fifteen radiation treatments, six months of chemotherapy tablets, and then a long-term treatment with anti-hormone therapy. During that initial period, I mostly lived from appointment to appointment. I was completely in a tunnel.
Living in a medical tunnel
When you receive such a diagnosis, there is hardly any time to reflect on what is happening to you mentally. You are being lived. Everything revolves around examinations, treatments, and the next step in the medical process.
Because I was relatively young when I became ill, additional questions also came my way. For instance, I had to make choices regarding my fertility and the freezing of eggs. I received excellent guidance for this from the hospital. I look back with great appreciation on my treatment team in Maastricht. There was structure, action was taken quickly when necessary, and I always felt that I was being heard.
Yet there were also moments when reality hit hard. Immediately after my diagnosis, various examinations followed. Understandable, but at that moment, it sometimes felt as if you were primarily a patient and no longer a human being. I later shared this experience as feedback with the department.
Seeking peace at Leonardus
Around January, just before my surgery, I came into contact with Energetisch Centrum Leonardus through my network. I was not looking for an alternative to medical treatment. That was beyond question for me. What I primarily needed was peace. My head was full and I noticed that I could no longer find any peace in my body.
I went to my first appointment without any specific expectations. What immediately struck me was the sense of trust and relaxation. During the period around my surgery, I came for treatments more frequently. Later, this was scaled back to about once a month.
What the treatments have primarily brought me is mental peace. Normally, my head is often busy and full of thoughts. After a treatment, I felt more space and more clarity. That peace helped me to navigate the treatment process better.
Setting boundaries and a new way of living
For me, it did not stop there. Because of everything that happened, I also started looking at my life differently. I have become more aware of my own boundaries, of relationships, and of the choices I make. I have started following my own path more.
At the same time, I do not believe that a single treatment or a single form of guidance provides all the answers. For me, recovery consists of several components that complement each other. I see them as individual links that together form one strong chain. Ultimately, you must also continue to take steps yourself.
Today, things are going well, considering the circumstances. At the same time, there are lasting consequences of the treatments. The anti-hormone therapy causes menopausal symptoms, among other things, and the check-ups remain tense at times. The knowledge that the disease could one day return never completely disappears. Yet I try not to let my life be defined by that.
I live differently than before my illness. I look less far ahead and am much more aware of today. That does not feel like giving up, but rather like a different way of living.
I see my experience with Leonardus as a valuable addition to the regular care I received. Not as a replacement, but as support that helped me experience more peace, clarity, and confidence during an intensive treatment process.
Everyone experiences illness in their own way and makes their own choices in that regard. This is my personal experience. For me, that combination of regular care and supplementary