The Butterfly Path

Hey, I’m Alex and I’ve been exactly where you are now, newly diagnosed with cancer, feeling lost, overwhelmed and utterly terrified.

I was diagnosed with grade 3 bilateral breast cancer in the summer of 2024. I was just 45 years old with a young family and as I heard the words “I’m sorry, it’s cancer” I felt like I’d been sucker punched, the bottom fell out of my world, and I was tumbling into an abyss.

I was absolutely resolute in overcoming my diagnosis and making a full recovery but I was an exhausted Mum of two young children, with a full time job as a psychologist and a busy home to run. If this was going to be a battle then I was going to lose because I just didn’t have any fight in me. I didn’t want to be called a ‘warrior’ and told how resiliant I was. I was already exhausted by strength. To overcome this, I was going to need support, softness, empathy and compassion for myself. I had to see this diagnosis differently, instead of it being another crisis to avert, or battle to fight I had to see it as a signal from my body to stop and to make some radical changes to my life. As terrifying as it was and as much as I wanted it to just f*ck off, I knew that to fully recover and truly heal, I had to face it square on, accept what was happening and learn why this had happened to me. I needed to find out what I was supposed to learn and how was I supposed to grow. I needed the courage to get curious in the face of my own mortality and I needed people with me on the journey who understood and supported that.

It’s not been an easy journey at all, but it has been surprisingly magical and beautiful at times too. I have learned to listen to the wisdom of my own body and have been brave enough to reject the “be strong” narrative in favor of true self-care. I have let cancer teach me some incredible life lessons because before cancer, I just wasn’t listening. I’m now kinder to myself, more compassionate, and more assertive in protecting my boundaries and energy. I have more self-belief, more self-worth, a deeper connection with myself, and I’m well on my way to physical and emotional wellness. I refuse to merely endure this experience and come out with nothing but battle scars and war wounds. I want to learn everything cancer has to teach me. I want to use this as an opportunity to reset and rest and to come out the other side even more f*ucking radiant than I was before!!

I want to share my journey with you, the things I’ve learnt and the mistakes I’ve made, and be the hand you hold through your own momentus, frightening, beautiful, overwhelming, incredible, transformative, radiant cancer journey.

You don’t have to fight it and solider on. Instead, you can take the butterfly path. You can use cancer as your opportunity to delve deep within your heart, to start listening to your own inner wisdom and to finally achieve emotional, spiritual, mental and physical healing.

I’ve got you, let’s do this together.