“I can thank my cancer for lots of things and contrary to mainstream belief, most of them are positive.”

Deb Walker, a former patient at SolarisCare’s Cancer Support Centre in Albany, has kindly stepped forward as an ambassador for Dry July. Here’s Deb’s story.

Christmas Eve 2013, I was diagnosed with stage 1: grade 3 breast cancer.  

I was now a member of the “C Team” and you wouldn’t have a clue what that means except losing your hair! Confusion reigned supreme.

I prepared to surround myself with professionals who would guide me through the cancer maze.

Frustrated and angry, I realised I had a voice and I can use it to nurture myself, so I asked questions and demanded that this busy Cancer Industry listened to me.

It was about this time on my journey I sought help for my mental, emotional and spiritual state of mind.  Something I find mainstream medicine knows nothing about, they have to remain analytical.

SolarisCare Great Southern at the Albany Campus was my haven, within the walls of traditional medicine I found I could make appointments for free massages, reflexology, reiki or just sit and have a chat and a cuppa. I regained some faith that modern medicine was accepting the importance of healing the whole body not just the affected site.

After six rounds of Chemo I travelled to Perth for six weeks of radiation treatment and had to re-start sourcing my support team however, I knew to go straight to the SolarisCare Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Again I had found the haven that is a privilege to those in “C Team”.

I sought free counselling, offered by SolarisCare, because I needed help relating to others after my life and changed so much.  After the “seriousness” of the last 8 months I needed to relearn and accept how this was going to affect my life from this point forward. Through SolarisCare I was able to empower myself.

I will forever be grateful to the SolarisCare Foundation for giving me these precious, priceless spaces and moments of healing.

This is why I did not hesitate to support Dry July because it raises funds to support for ALL cancer patients and their families.