By Tara Coyote
My life has been a jagged, windy road and I’m grateful for every growth opportunity that comes my way. Five years ago, my best friend of 19 years died from Leukemia. I was honored to be one of her main caretakers for 22 months from diagnosis to death. Her death helped bring a valuable awareness of my own mortality.
One year after she died, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. For 2.5 years I chose an exclusively natural non-toxic approach to healing. During this time, I ran a horse retreat center where people could spend healing time with horses. A very unfortunate event occurred, which forced me to sell my business, horses, and retreat center. Due to the immense stress, the cancer progressed to be Stage 4 in multiple areas in my body.
After this life-changing event, I decided to move back home to my ancestral home of Kauai, Hawaii with the intention to heal. In the winter of 2019, I had cancer in my breast, lungs, liver, spine, adrenal glands, and left hip. I was referred to Hospice. I was petrified.
As my body declined, I had to take a hard look at my belief system and whether or not to stay committed to healing naturally. Was I going to die for my stubborn choice of not doing chemotherapy or was I brave enough to do the thing I feared the most, which was chemotherapy? After my best friend’s death, I had an extreme amount of trauma to process, which fueled my fear of doing chemotherapy. I chose life!
The mind is meant to be questioned and belief systems can be changed.
I ended up doing nine months of chemotherapy. In that time, I ended up breaking my hip and having to have double hip surgery due to bone metastasis. In February 2020, I finished treatment with remarkable results! Since then, I continue to have the blood tests of a healthy, normal person. My CT scans continue to have miraculous results and the cancer continues to shrink!
I am very aware how fragile life is. Living with a life-threatening diagnosis has been challenging, but I have learned the most valuable gift. I now know that every moment I’m alive is precious. I’m truly appreciative of my beautiful body, spirit, heart, and soul.
It’s usually the most difficult moments that grow us and stretch us to new levels of awareness. Diamonds are birthed under pressure. I know that as deeply as I’m challenged, I will in turn be gifted with incredibly valuable insights. I choose to be grateful and enjoy every moment that I can!
I wrote an Amazon bestseller titled, ‘Grace, Grit & Gratitude: A Cancer Thriver’s Journey from Hospice to Full Recovery with the Healing Power of Horses’ where I share my story. You can find it at: https://amzn.to/3lEJua3
Connect with Tara on Instagram and Twitter: @taracoyote
Thank you for allowing us to share your story, Tara! SBC loves you!
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