I had just passed my twenty-sixth birthday, and was experiencing the culture shock of recently settling in the US. A few days after my first gynecological check-up, a call came: "Some abnormal cells have been found, which either means that there is some kind of infection, or some malignant tissue. It's very common, don't worry about it". When checking in to the hospital for a D & C, the doctor stated, "We do dozens of these a day".

A few days after undergoing one of those 'dozens', I sat opposite the doctor in his office, and stared, quite transfixed, at his rather bad hair transplant. He told me that he had found cancer in my uterus, and that he had gone to some trouble to set time aside to perform a hysterectomy the next week. Since it was urgent, he had managed it. My horror astounded him. "You won't have to worry about periods any more, and God knows you don't want any children, since your boyfriend already has five". He also told me I was probably 'cancer prone' because of a tumor which had been removed from my thigh a year earlier. I consulted other doctors and each, 'the best in his field', offered the same opinion: cancer of the cervix and uterus.

I decided to wait and calm myself before making a decision. On hearing this, most of my friends and relatives were agitated, to put it mildly. I signed a release saying I had refused treatment, and promised to come back three months later. The decision was not a frivolous one. I had simply had enough of being a victim, having suffered the previous year's cancer surgery, and was ready to take some responsibility for my illnesses. Since I saw the possibility of how I might have created my illness, surely I could 'un-create' it. But how, and what to do?

I read everything I could get my hands on regarding alternative health treatments, and realized that many unnecessary hysterectomies are performed. I was impressed by the fact that not only had many of the alternative treatments existed well before modern medicine, they are generally non-toxic, and therefore, have no bad side effects.

Three months later, at the follow-up visit, the doctor (the first gynecologist) cleared his throat and said, "we found no malignancy with this test. These things happen sometimes, we must have got it all the first time. Of course, it could recur any time."

At thirty, I decided to become a serious student of alternative health care methods. The three happiest, busiest years of my life followed: sixteen hour days, seven days a week of work and study and I had my bachelor's degree. The years of illness and soul searching were a great gift. Easy to say in hindsight, isn't it? They gave me a life and a career that I love. For the first time I felt healthy, strong and had found my niche! And there has been no recurrence to this date!