Written by: Patty Oliver, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I kept walking through the seemingly endless corridors of the medical building. It was 2007, and the clock had struck late on a Friday afternoon of a long holiday weekend, leaving the hallways deserted. The silence was palpable, yet my heart pounded loudly in my ears. A nurse, clipboard in hand, hurriedly led me down a hallway. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, avoiding any form of eye contact. This should have been my first clue that bad news was going to be delivered. After all, if it were good news, she probably would just blurt it out and then we could both get on with our weekend! Instead, I felt like I was being prepared for an inquisition. At the end of the corridor, she pointed me towards a room, gesturing for me to enter, closing the door behind her.
“I’ll keep this brief,” she stated abruptly. “You have breast cancer. We’re unsure of the stage or the level of invasiveness at this point, but you have breast cancer. A medical team, including a surgeon, radiologist and oncologist will guide your cancer treatment program…” Her voice drifted off in my head and I lost focus.
The diagnosis wasn’t a surprise; it felt like the universe had been dropping hints for weeks. News of breast cancer had become a constant presence. I started randomly dropping things from my right hand (the side where the tumor was located). And, I had an unshakeable exhaustion that didn’t seem to be linked to anything in particular, and sleep wouldn’t alleviate it.
One night, I was awakened by an uncomfortable sensation under my right armpit. It felt like a mild twinge. I shook my arm to try to get it to go away, but it didn’t. I reached with my left hand to try to determine the cause of the discomfort and…there it was. The lump. It seemed like it showed up out of nowhere because I never felt it before, yet that night I was somehow led directly to it.
My future depended on my next decision – not on how to beat the cancer, for I actually felt confident that I would. Rather, I instinctively knew that I needed to reclaim my power. Years of relinquishing control of my happiness and my place in life had contributed to my body allowing for breast cancer, a fact that was unnecessary in my mind to dispute. But how do I reclaim my power when my entire life up until then had been built on giving it away? Now, after 15 years of energy healing experience through Akashic Records, I know for certain that every ailment and disease has its root cause in our choices, whether it be from a past life or present life.
Eye-opening statistics
When you’re diagnosed with breast cancer, your life becomes a string of appointments, tests and diagnostics to determine treatment options which can include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation depending on your type and stage of breast cancer. According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, breast cancer is now the most common cancer in the world, and the second leading cause of cancer death in American women. In 2023, it was estimated that more than 300,000 people in the US would be diagnosed with it, the large majority being women.
My diagnosis happened to be triple-negative breast cancer, which is more aggressive and also has fewer treatment options. Because of this, the prognosis for those with triple-negative breast cancer tends to be worse.
Navigating cancer treatment
Once I understood that my choices were limited, I decided I had to be just as aggressive in ridding my body of the disease once and for all. I opted for a double mastectomy, which is an extreme choice. Doctors advised me that it wouldn’t guarantee non-recurrence, but I felt it was the smartest choice I could make.
Luckily, the tumor was caught early; it was stage 1 with no lymph-node involvement. This was good because once the lymph system is involved, it can carry cancer cells to other parts of the body.
The oncologist was on the fence about giving me chemotherapy, mostly because it was caught early but also because it was shown to have less effect on triple-negative breast cancer versus other types of breast cancer back in 2007 when this was taking place. However, in my mind it seemed logical for me to have it, even with just the slight improvement the statistics showed it could offer me. While I was not looking forward to losing my hair and being ill from the chemo, I was looking for the most aggressive options available.
Part of taking my power back was making my own decisions about my health care – something that everyone seemed to have an opinion on. So, my first suggestion if you’re facing a similar situation, is to follow your own instincts and make choices that resonate with you. In the end, it’s no one else’s decision. The situation itself is incredibly overwhelming, so if you allow other people’s opinions to influence you, it causes more confusion and fear. Also, I told my doctors not to refer to the tumor as “my cancer.” This was definitely NOT my cancer and not something I would ever identify with. I asked them to refer to it only as “the cancer” or “the tumor” and to never associate it in any way with me personally.
So began a year-long journey of cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and breast reconstruction surgery. Plus, I had two small children under the age of four who just wanted mom to take them to their play dates as usual. In hindsight, this was a good thing, as it kept me busy and focused on what really mattered most, which was spending time with my children and keeping a sense of normalcy. And it gave me time to consider my own personal happiness and what I wanted from life once the treatments were complete.
Finding the best version of myself
I know for sure that the breast cancer diagnosis was a wake-up call from the universe, telling me that I had been hiding my true self and living an inauthentic life. I ignored the warning signs of anxiety, sadness, depression and constantly feeling I had let someone down. These are signals that the soul sends through the physical body as a nudge to remind us that we have a choice in creating our joy and abundance. When we give our power away to the approval of others, it causes a block to our vital force energy and our ability to live authentically.
One of the most empowered decisions I made after cancer treatment was to open a business in the local area. It required that I go back to school for a year, so I chose night school which allowed me to be home all day with my girls. My spouse at that time was not on board with the whole idea, but I was at a point where I was okay making the unpopular decision to proceed (my next most empowered decision!)
Shortly after I opened my business, I had a serendipitous meeting with a Reiki Master. I had never heard of energy healing or Reiki, but it changed my life and my business. I sought out training and added Reiki to my business, which was a natural fit. After a few years, I realized I was highly intuitive, and started accessing the past lives of my clients during their sessions. It was then that I discovered the Akashic Records and the role that karma plays in our life, and it’s been the primary focus of my business ever since.
Once I learned to follow my passions and trust that I could handle whatever came my way, it allowed me to lean into the uncertainty of how it would all play out. I had no idea the success and abundance that would follow, but it became a key component of my teachings in Akashic Records and manifestation.
I can honestly say that I am thankful for having breast cancer, as it was the one thing that prompted me to uplevel and create the life of my dreams. In the process, I became the best version of myself, and I will be forever grateful for the experience!
If you’d like to incorporate energy work in your healing journey but are unsure where to start, you can download my free Soul Empowerment Bundle, which includes a 10-minute guided meditation and 12 printable affirmation cards.
Patty Oliver, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Patty is a transformational energy healer, author and spiritual teacher of the Akashic Records. A diagnosis of breast cancer in 2007 launched her self-healing path to soul empowerment and alignment, which she now passionately shares with others through soul coaching and spiritual online courses.
