Safe Haven: A Cancer Rehab Castle
“I think I would want to call it Safe Haven because it would be just that for anyone who wanted to come.”
I have been receiving a lot of responses from my last blog post about cancer rehab. I have been asked; “How do we change this?” “How can we fix this issue?” I love the outpouring of support and the response to help. But aside from changing the way the United States sees cancer and the cancer industry as a whole, I can’t answer these questions.
But I do have an idea.
This cancer rehab thing had been on my mind for a while; it started the first time I was in remission. I took a trip to Hawaii and while in Hawaii I learned that I had a fear of water. Not of water itself but of holding my breath under water; of going down too deep that I wouldn’t be able to breathe. Anytime I would stick my head under the water even just for a second, I would start to panic. Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe! But in reality, I was fine.
I didn’t understand this fear because I used to be such a good swimmer. I used to love the water and do diving challenges all the time. I used to have contests to see how long I could hold my breath under the water. And now I was terrified to even get my head wet. The only thing that changed from loving the water until now was cancer, and my lung capacity sucks now. I know this isn’t a ‘medical’ thing but wouldn’t it be great to have a place to work through these fears that I now have?
Prior to cancer treatment, I had all of these standards that I knew about my body. I knew that I was a strong swimmer. I knew that I could pull myself up and support my own body weight with my arms. I knew that I could play guitar for hours without getting sore or having my fingers hurt. I knew I had a lot of energy. I knew I could dance and sing. I knew I could to 75 sit-ups in one minute. I knew all of these things about myself. But then cancer came and it took all of these things that I knew about myself and it wiped the slate clean.
I no longer had any of the standards that I used to have. I knew I was no longer a good swimmer. If I got tired while swimming I was done for. I wouldn’t be able to make it back to safety. I no longer had any muscle control nor was I able to do any of the athletic things I was used to be able to doing.
I had to learn how to use my body all over again. This is where the cancer rehab idea came from. Because I wished there was physical therapy or something like it to help test my muscle and my skills. To know that before cancer I could do 75 sit-ups in one minute and now I can’t even do 5 in 10 minutes. I wanted a place where I could work up to that again where I could get my body back.
Two years ago my doctors told me I was dying, that my cancer had spread too far and there really weren’t any more treatment options for me. They told me I had 2 months to live and maybe if I did chemo I would have 4 months. I decided not to do chemo and just to spend the two months or whatever time I had left checking things off on my bucket list.
One of the things on my bucket list was to go to Europe. When I was in Europe I fell in love with the culture, the food, the history, the people, and the lifestyle. It was so different from the U.S.
Europe has all of these beautiful castles! I loved learning about their history and touring them. This gave me an idea. I want to live in a castle. But it would be silly for just me to have a castle all to myself, which got me thinking how could I use my castle to help people.
While in Europe I wanted to stay in a castle B&B but they ended up being too far away from where we were going. But this is where I got my idea. What if I had a castle and turned half of it into a B&B that anyone could come and stay in. This B&B part would be the part of the castle that would make money to pay for the other half. The other half of my castle would be a cancer rehab facility where cancer patients could go for free courtesy of the B&B part of the castle.
My castle would have all of the amenities; a pool for water therapy, horses for equine therapy, pets would also be allowed on the premises, and there would be pet therapy animals. There would be music therapy and music lesson for those who wanted to get into music. At my castle there would be art therapy/art lessons; there would be a garden on site with organic fruits and veggies; there would be a chef there to prepare meals and to teach others how to make healthy meals.
My castle would have a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a mental health therapist. It would be everything needed to get your life back on track after cancer. The goal of my castle would be to have your body back to what it was before cancer, if not better, before you leave. And you would have the knowledge and the skills to maintain that.
I think I would want to call it Safe Haven because it would be just that for anyone who wanted to come and stay at the B&B or anyone who would use the cancer rehab. I have thought about trying to do something like this in the U.S. but realized it would have to be in the U.K. because the American government wouldn’t allow something like this. Plus, the U.S. doesn’t really have any castles.
This was just my idea, I have no idea how to go about doing this besides making a million dollars and buying a castle. But I figured building this castle would be my new life goal.
I’m not sure how, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe once my book becomes a best seller all of the profits can go to Safe Haven. I know this is just a pipe dream or whatever people call it, but I have tenacity and a tack record of having the craziest dreams and then making them happen.
