Suzette Muentz

"I was 42 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and all I can remember feeling was shock and disbelief. My mind was all over the place - I started to garble and ask question after question but not hear the answers, just lips moving as if everything was in slow motion.

I read about The Yorkshire Haven in a leaflet and came for an appointment as soon as I was diagnosed and before I had any treatment. It was remarkable to find a place which specialised in what I was going through, where I could go and relax, meet others going through the same thing and benefit from the wonderful treatments.

Initially I coped by reading every leaflet about breast cancer as I felt the need to inform myself as much as possible. The Haven has a wealth of information on hand for anything I wanted to know about and I was able to talk it through with their staff when I needed to. I still go to the Young Women’s Group once a fortnight where there are younger women like myself who are at different stages of treatment. We all share our stories and support each other.

Growing up, both my mother and father had been in hospital, my dad had a stroke and my mother battled cancer until she died at only 38 years. I had so much fear of having an operation from seeing what my mum went through I had to do something about it. The group visualisations and one-to-one EFT sessions at The Haven worked the best for me. I found I could visualise well so I could see everything that I was told to focus on and could allow my emotions to come to the surface. In the EFT session, I found I could feel everything that was being said to me and could let go (I had found it hard to let my emotions out at home). I spent the whole session crying which was a very freeing experience and helped me enormously.

I managed to trick myself into a new and very different way of thinking, a kind of hypnosis. On the day of my mastectomy I felt excitement instead of dread and I felt no fear at all.  My husband couldn't believe how calm and positive I was on the day of my surgery considering it was my biggest phobia in life.  I just wouldn't allow myself to "think" at all and this helped me to sleep soundly the night before my operation too.

I carry a genetic fault and therefore have had to have further surgery which I have just recently completed, namely the removal of my healthy breast to reduce my risks of getting a new cancer. I did not allow myself to dwell on that - even though I have experienced cancer, had a mastectomy, chemotherapy and double reconstruction - my journey is still not over as I need my healthy ovaries removing and a double nipple reconstruction. I think of it as a process. When I faced my deepest fears it gave me strength and got me over the fear.  The Haven has really helped me with my anxieties and to live in the “now” as much as possible and I am hugely grateful to them for all their support.”

Suzette Muentz