At 64, Vivienne faced a life-altering diagnosis: stage 4 bowel cancer. Born in Invercargill, New Zealand, and now residing in Brisbane, Australia, her experience with the “Big C” has been one of challenge, transformation, and surprising revelations.

Vivienne’s diagnosis came with a daunting prognosis—just a few months to live. What followed was an intense treatment journey, including months of intravenous chemotherapy and combined radiation and oral chemotherapy.

I was 8 years old when my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer and hospitalized for a month for surgery and post-surgical complications. I worried that she might die and leave me motherless. I also worried that her cancer might be contagious and that I might very well catch it and die as well. I had no one to talk with about my fears. My father was preoccupied with my mother’s illness while...

Erika earned her Master’s in Social Work in 1997 and obtained her Clinical Social Work License in 2006. Before that, Erika’s passion for humanitarian work took her to orphanages and hospitals in developing countries; primarily through Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. A defining moment in Erika’s journey was meeting Mother Teresa herself in 1993 in Calcutta, India. This is Erika’s story of teaching children and young mothers self-healing through Havening.