Never stop loving life

I am Jenny Volkwyn and I would dearly like to become a life coach.

Why?

Because, through my experience, I have come to appreciate just how very special life is and why it is a precious commodity that should neither be taken for granted nor wasted.

I love to motivate other people to be who they want to be by helping them to look at their lives differently. And I want to share my experience so it may benefit others.

Nothing gives me more joy than seeing eyes sparkle when the person who owns them realises how very special they are and how they have the ability to make their dreams come true.

[box type=\”shadow\”]\”I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.\”

– Arthur Rubinstein[/box]

My battle with AML

In 2004, after seven years of misdiagnosis, I was finally diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), a cancer that is characterised by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.

I was given just one week to live.

That sort of news tends to bring one’s life into sharp focus rather quickly!

A happy ending

Before I go on, I’m happy to tell you that after a tough two year battle with AML I am now completely free of it.

The experience was indeed a life changing one. I credit my success with the attitude that I chose to adopt and the amazing power of the mind that allowed me to resolve that I would beat the disease in order that I could use my experience to good effect in helping others.

Let me share with you a bit of what it was like to battle the cancer and the things I have learnt and resolved to do.

Helping others

Shortly after my admission to hospital I was extremely weak but I felt very aware other patients around me in a similar situation and I felt for them.

At one point I got out of bed, hanging on to the contraption from which my drip and several other bags containing drug cocktails were hanging, to walk very slowly to the patient in the bed next to me. He was an elderly gentleman and like me, was feeling the cold. He was clutching a small hand towel trying to cover as much of himself with it as he could, being too weak to sit up and pull up his own blankets.

Feeling very proud of myself, I managed to do it for him. His look showed me that if he could have kissed me he would have. That made me feel instantly better.

At another time I got up to help draw the curtains around another lady patient in our mixed ward who desperately needed some privacy to effect her ablutions without too much humiliation.

Helping others gave me something to focus on other than my own suffering.

A struggle

Sometimes it was a real struggle though. Once when I got up to help another patient I passed out. The nursing staff admonished me and told me to stay in bed.

As the cancer ate away at me I remember times when I felt really low. Sometimes the pain, anguish and humiliation would cause me to cry for hours. There were times when my family had to hold drinks to my mouth while I was lying down as I didn’t have the strength to do it myself.

Dreaming of drinking iced water

At one point I could not drink or eat and lost sixteen kilogrammes in six weeks. All I could manage was to suck on crushed ice. I dreamt of being able to drink a glass of icy water on my own.

AML causes a replacement of normal bone marrow with leukemic cells, which causes a drop in the number of red blood cells, platelets and normal white blood cells. Bleeding is a problem as I found when trying to brush my teeth. Without an immediate infusion of platelets I would simply have bled to death.

Surviving for a purpose

Despite feeling totally helpless at times and despite the soul destroying feeling from hearing the sound of body bags being zipped up around less fortunate patients, I remained determined to survive. I had an important purpose to carry out when I got my strength back!

After an awful year I started to turn the corner. Gradually, day after day, the power of my mind and my fixation on my purpose got the better of the cancer.

In the second year my hair started to return and my very skinny frame started to fill out a bit. Finally I got to the point when I was discharged from hospital and I took great pride in driving myself home.

The best ever compliment

On my first return to the hospital to receive chemotherapy treatment one of the security guards paid me the best compliment ever, saying “Madam, you look brand new!”

Chemotherapy attacks the cancerous cells but it also damages the fat and then your muscles, so I had to learn to walk again. At first I could manage just a metre or two a day for a week, then three or four a day for another week. Today I regularly walk ten kilometres.

After effects

Another after effect of the chemotherapy treatment was osteo arthritis. I have had to have a total hip replacement. This is a major operation which requires one to start learning to walk immediately afterwards to prevent blood clots that can cause death.

Thanks to my attitude and willpower I was able to heal from this operation in record time. My hip is now as good as new.

Life lessons

So what has this experience contributed to my life, you may ask?

The answer is … a lot!

•    The words ‘I can’t’ no longer exist in my vocabulary. I know I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

•    I’ve learnt to appreciate that the challenges that life throws out are actually opportunities in disguise. If life gives you lemons then use them to make delicious lemonade!

•    We were meant to enjoy life and help others enjoy theirs. It’s important and rewarding to laugh, love and hug people you know, as well as those you don’t.

•    Don’t be shy in coming forward. Walk down a passage and say hello to whomever walks past you. You’ll get curious glances but you’ll also get broad smiles.

•    Stay in touch with your inner child. Some people will think you’re crazy. Others will laugh with you. Everyone will be a bit lighter from the experience.

•    Stay fit. Stay healthy and never stop loving life!