Former Emmerdale star Leah Bracknell has posted a blog update to mark one year since she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
In it, she credits alternative therapies for prolonging her life and says she’s “still banging my drum”, despite not knowing if she would live this long.
She begins her post: “Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is the last thing anyone wants to hear. I know because it happened to me.
“Stage 4 with very few options. No surgery. No radiation. And no hope.”
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But Leah has also revealed she has taken a “good hard look at all aspects of my life” and created “a life I am worthy of.”
After her diagnosis, Leah found out there was no way of treating her disease in Britain, so her partner Jez started a crowdfunding page to send her to a clinic in Germany.
However she then discovered her Chinese genes made it possible for her to qualify for a clinical trial here, which she started on at the end of 2016.
Jez revealed in August that the drugs weren’t working, writing on the crowdfunding page: “We have found out the drug definitely isn’t working so she has been off this for a while while we find out the next steps.
“We think it probably stopped working back in March or even before. So for the last five months she has been prospering solely on alternative treatments.”
In her latest blog, Leah references this as she says: “Granted, it’s not particularly conventional: I use journeying to connect with spiritual helpers and ancestors, visualisations, meditation, breathing exercises, yoga practices, and allow my creative juices to flow.
“I’m not saying it’s a guaranteed recipe for a radical remission, but that ain’t going to stop me.
“I am still here. Still banging my drum. Still causing trouble. And this time last year, I wasn’t so sure that would be so.”
She is displaying a hugely positive attitude to her diagnosis and fight, adding:
“I ask myself, would I turn back the clocks to a time before cancer? Genuinely, I don’t know.
“I can’t answer that. I am certainly in no hurry to go anywhere.
“But the last twelve months have shown me not just the absolutely worst of times, but some of the best times in my life.”
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She continued: “Cancer was my call to action. It has taken a huge leap out of my comfort zone. And, yes, it’s a work in progress. Constantly. But it is paying off.
“And for that I am grateful. Every day. 365 days of gratitude. My incredible year.”
She also wants to put together an “experiential/interactive talk to share my experience of living with cancer and some of the methods I use”, even looking to stage it in London later this year.