The Day Cancer Saved My Life

For me, that day came wrapped in grief, fear, and confusion. It was the day I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer during the fourth month of my pregnancy.

Just weeks earlier, I had experienced the unthinkable — one of my twin sons had passed away in my womb. I was told I would carry him alongside his brother until birth. As if that grief wasn’t enough to break me, cancer came crashing in, stripping away every illusion of control I had left.

And yet, that was the day I began to awaken.

The day I stopped asking “Why me?”
The day I chose gratitude over fear.
The day I began to trust that everything — even this — was part of my path.

There’s always one moment — one day — that changes everything.

The day after my diagnosis, I went for a walk with my husband. The air was crisp and alive. I could feel every leaf, every breath, every heartbeat — as if life had just begun. I came home, closed my eyes, and meditated for the first time in months.

Something shifted.

I didn’t know what would happen next — but I knew I didn’t want to spend whatever time I had left in fear. I surrendered, not out of weakness, but out of strength. I chose to trust life. To believe that cancer wasn’t here to punish me, but to wake me up.

🌱 The Shift

Over the next year, I changed my life completely:

• I removed toxic foods and products.

• I returned to yoga and breathwork, even when my body felt weak.

• I meditated every single day to manage toxic thoughts.

• I cried, I forgave, I opened, I surrendered!

I found power in taking responsibility for my healing — not from a place of guilt, but from deep love and empowerment. I realized that good health is a certain vibration, and the body listens to the messages we send it every day — through food, through movement, through yoga, through meditation I maintain that vibration every single day. And yes it takes hard work to do this, but it is work I am now motivated to do.

💡 The Awakening

After my surgery, the doctors were amazed. My cancer was Grade 3 and it had shown 3mm growth in just 2 weeks leading to the diagnosis. The expectation after 3 weeks when I had my surgery (and changed my life) were that the cancer would grow and possibly spread. I was fully prepared for my son to come out early so I can start chemo.

BUT

What those 3 weeks of surrendering, gratitude, yoga, good food have done, leading to my operation was remarkable! My lymph nodes were clear. My margins were clean. And the tumour had barely grown. Chemo became optional. My son was born full term and I was able to breastfeed him. I was here.

Alive.

And that was just the beginning.

This blog — this business, Grateful Minds — was born from that fire. From the breakdown that became a breakthrough. From the day cancer saved my life.

🙏 From Pain to Purpose

Maybe you’re navigating a diagnosis. Or feeling lost. Or waking up to the realization that something needs to change.

Let me tell you — it’s never too late to begin again.

Start with a single breath.
A quiet moment.
A walk in nature.
A cup of tea you actually taste.

Gratitude begins where resistance ends. And healing begins the moment you choose to love yourself enough to begin again.

With love & light,
Alena Booth
Grateful Minds
🧘‍♀️ Mindfulness | Yoga | Healing

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