A Chronic Entrepreneur: Karen Alexander
Karen Alexander was diagnosed with incurable cancer 12 years ago. She was told that there was no hope. Perhaps the worst part of her experience was discovering that one of the side effects of the medication she had been put on by a medical professional was responsible for liver and uterine cancer. Coming to terms with the understanding that her condition was caused through her treatment by a doctor was earth-shattering and there was no escaping her grief and anger. Despite it all, Karen lives and thrives today. She is an entrepreneur and a writer. She writes about her journey of living a life of courage and conviction on her blog here. in the hope that she might inspire and support others in their journey.
What’s your Chronic?
I was diagnosed with advanced incurable cancer.
Where/when were you diagnosed?
Diagnosed 12 years ago at the Wesley Hospital Brisbane, 10th January, 2006. The PET scan showed the following damage: several sites within the spine at about C6, T1, T2, T3, T5, T6, S1. Several right and left ribs…. etc.
What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
I simply write to inspire others and change their perception of their medical diagnosis. Just because medical science doesn’t have all the answers, it doesn’t mean the answers can’t be found elsewhere.
What came first, the chronic or the entrepreneurism?
Entrepreneurism came first. I was a business consultant, after completing my MBA, then the diagnosis hit hard.
How did this path come to you?
I achieved my certification in health and wellbeing, but realised I could inspire more people by writing about my journey.
Did you go through any sort of 12-stages of grief with the diagnosis or take it in its stride?
My stages of grief were mixed with not understanding why I had been prescribed a drug that caused liver and uterine cancer. I cried for eight weeks. To sit in an oncologist’s office and be told, three times in 15 minutes, that you are going to die, is mind-numbing and earth-shattering.
How did the process manifest itself?
I grieved over losing my life, and cried every time I thought of saying goodbye to my loved ones, especially when we purchased the burial plot. Fear and despair were a process I converted into my free form poetry on my blog.
Did you immediately reassess your life?
No. When told repeatedly that there is absolutely NO HOPE for life or living, what’s the point? I lay on my bed waiting to die.
Did you seek out or join organisations representing your chronic for support or did you find comfort and answers elsewhere? What would you recommend in hindsight?
When being so close to death, society shuns you; you are no longer of use to anyone anymore. My friends and business acquaintances visited and said their goodbyes.
I walked away from the medical system and haven’t sought medical advice for nearly ten years. This was after researching all the medication they had me on, and they all had the potential of causing more harm than good.
I became a recluse for nearly nine years. I didn’t join any organisation, they would only tell me to seek medical advice, and I couldn’t seek help from anyone, all the people I knew had never experienced what I was going through and survived.
How have you changed, if at all, in your relationships, decisions and values?
My whole life crumbled down, never to be the same again. Every one of my relationships changed. My father left his funeral suit hanging in our house for four years. I have had to move on with my life, and that has meant letting many family relationships go.
Human behaviour, and how you are treated after an incurable diagnosis, comes down to a person’s belief system. If they have never been challenged or experienced a similar diagnosis, then their belief is that there is nothing else to be done or hoped for.
I ran into an old acquaintance in the shopping mall one day. Their comment was, ‘You’re not dead?’ with surprise on their face and raised eyebrows.
What is your life philosophy and has this changed?
I don’t live my life based on other people’s limited beliefs and lack of experience and I no longer look for self-worth from people and their perceptions of me.
What do you wish you’d known before?
I wish I had learnt my own self-worth and value as a person. I wish I had been encouraged to nurture a different set of values.
Are you on any treatments? Why/why not?
If you are diagnosed with an illness and the prognosis is incurable by medical science standards, look for your answers elsewhere. Don’t waste time on false hope, thinking medical science is the only answer. I live my life the epigenetic way.
What advice do you have for others starting out on this journey?
Learn about yourself. Know what your individual body needs and responds well to. In other words, ‘know thyself.’
What is a ‘bad day’ for you?
When my computer doesn’t work.
What do you do on a ‘bad day’?
Meditate on emptiness.
How do you deal with stress?
Negate it by meditating daily or soak in an Epsom salt bath with relaxing music.
What do you struggle with the most?
A weak vertebrae which is a result of the damage when it was broken in two places due to the tumours. I do exercises each day to keep my back strong.
What are you most proud of?
I am alive and thriving outside the medical system. I have been published in two books while working on my own book.
Who are your back up dancers?
I have some wonderful friends, who have stood the test of time. When I finally transitioned from recluse mode to the outside world again, I found some wonderful new friends.
Best bits of being a Chronic Entrepreneur?
Neither good nor bad..it is LIFE!
Worst bits of being a Chronic Entrepreneur?
People still treating me as though I am about to die. Giggle… giggle!
I am a warrior not a victim.
Are you a 5-year planner or are you winging it?
I have conflicts with being a project manager versus being an intuitive. However, when I do make my mind up to achieve a goal, I have passion, direction and focus. I wrote the first draft of my book due to be released this year in a little over eight weeks, and the word count was over 40,000 words.
Dream weekend plans and have these changed?
I haven’t been on a holiday for more than twelve years. I have everything I need right where I am. In the past, when my life was so hectic working and project managing, I used to dream of a meditation retreat. My home is now my meditation retreat. I have no desire to go anywhere else.
Ultimate dinner party guests?
None. I would rather watch an inspiring movie or read a good book.
What advice would you give your younger self?
To learn to focus on the inner self not the outer manmade world.
What’s next?
I am learning about self-publishing and also learning about audio books, and podcasts.
I’m looking to write fiction after my book is published.
How can people find you?
Blog: http://courageandconviction.life
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/courageandconviction/
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