My first indications I was unwell began with a dream last August:

I was dripping tiny drops of blood behind me as I walked barefoot on my newly refinished wood floors. An Asian woman pointed these bloodlines out to me, that they belonged to and were originating from me. I had my period again, she told me. I wrote the dream in my journal and noted the new ” Dream Guide” joining my roster of teachers in Dreamtime. ###

There was more to the dream. I misread it and believed it had to do with family bloodlines instead of a literal message to me about what was going on with my body. I’d been feeling much more tired than usual for months now and had been ‘spotting’ throughout that time yet I failed to make the connection to my dream warning. On New Year’s Day that all changed as I had a full on period. I recalled my dream. Fast forward to a negative pap smear, an ultrasound, an attempted biopsy in my ob-gyn’s office, a uterine biopsy under anethesia…then four days prior to my birthday in March I got the news: “You have cancer.”

There is much more to the journey. I will spare you further details. What I do want to share is that I was lucky–so very lucky– that my cancer was found in the early stages. It turns out that any ‘spotting’ after menopause is often a major red flag to uterine cancer. ‘Spotting’ is also concerning in premenopausal women. So please ladies, get yourself checked out at the first signs of any abnormal bleeding no matter how insignificant it might seem.

I am ever grateful to my amazing friends who are helping me cope with activities I couldn’t handle by myself throughout this healing journey. Thank you for the rides, the overnight care, the food preparation, and the many acts of kindness large and small that I have received from family and friends near and far. I am also grateful to “Dr. Soul” for his skill on the DaVinci robotics machine at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

I created the ephemeral Dream Catcher for Wellness in the Year of the Tiger 3 days before my surgery. Each talisman has a deep symbolic meaning to me. The spiny shell came from a beach in Goa and sand spilled out of it while I was tying it to the branch. This has been a circular journey. I feel like I’ve been given new life and my creative juices are finally beginning to percolate. I no longer have cancer.

Namaste,

Katy