I’m feeling a bit out of the loop right now, as I just came back from a two week retreat with no phone reception. It was a bit of a shock to realise that Omicron had hit and NZ was in red once the retreat finished! I was meant to attend Clarke and Jacinda’s wedding, which had obviously been cancelled, so I stayed a few extra days at the retreat and am currently integrating coming back into the ‘real world’.   It’s been an incredible experience and very healing for me, especially around my breast cancer journey, and body image with a reconstructed breast. I actually feel like I have a better relationship with my body than before I had the surgery!

My beautiful room at the retreat.

  It feels like there has been so much change over the last two years – for me personally, for the clinic, the country, and from a global perspective. We’ve survived Covid, lockdowns, storms, water shortages, team disruptions, and cancer. It’s definitely been a ‘storming’ period of transition and transformation. With change comes fear and discomfort, but also many opportunities, if we start to look for the ‘medicine’ in the change.   The cancer journey for me has led to an opportunity to slow my life down a bit and start to really feel into my body and my life as to what keeps life flowing. Lockdowns provided people the opportunity to do the same, and really look at their lives – what is working and what could change to help life flow more. Even the changes in people’s businesses and livelihoods has provided some with the freedom to follow passions they might not otherwise have explored. Storms can be scary and destructive, but after a storm, the sun always comes out, and there is an opportunity for change, and growth. Somehow everything feels fresher and brighter once we have survived a storm.

I’m excited that we have Eve starting to increase her hours again now that her gorgeous little boy Tommy is a year old, and looking forward to Marjorie coming back from maternity leave in May. We have had Hannah off on ACC due to a car accident last year, and so have been very short staffed. Thank you for your patience and support if you have found it challenging to get an appointment recently.

We remain open with all the appropriate precautions for Covid Red – you will be asked for your vaccine pass and to change to a surgical mask on entry into the clinic. Your clinicians will be wearing N95 masks, and we are hoping to have our antiviral/antibacterial white overcoats arrive this month as an extra layer of protection. We continue to use the antiviral air filters.

I have every hope and expectation that we will come out of this period of ‘storming’ transition and transformation into a new world which is better than what we’ve come from.

Please stay safe, and continue to treat yourself and others with love and kindness as we transition through the Covid/life storm.

Sending you so much love,

Dr Cat 😻