“You can’t let the disease fight you… You have to fight it from within yourself.”

Before she underwent surgery, Carla Sasley made a special request to her doctor. “I made her promise that once she had removed the cancerous tissue, she would tell me that it was all gone,” says Carla. “I knew I needed to hear that on a sub-conscious level.

“I realize that that might not work for everyone. But I’m a spiritual person and I believe in the power of suggestion,” says the Winnipeg native who now lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Carla’s cervical cancer was detected through a routine Pap test. When a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of cancer, it came as a shock to the then 28-year-old. “My first thought was: am I going to live?”

Carla underwent surgery to remove her cancer. But she found the time after her surgery was more nerve-wracking than before. “I was worried that it would re-occur,” she explains.

During this time, Carla found reading self-help books and visualizing positive outcomes very helpful. “Be positive. You can’t let the disease fight you, you have to take control of it and fight it from within yourself.”

Now cancer-free for more than 14 years and a peer support volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society’s CancerConnection program, Carla knows that her post-surgery reaction is not uncommon. “Most women (with cervical cancer) are scared. They want to talk to someone who has had a good outcome.

“I encourage them to write down any questions they have,” she says, “And I really encourage that they to have a family member or friend come with them to appointments so that they can write things down and ask questions, too.”

Having survived cancer has changed Carla’s outlook on life. She and her husband like to spend a lot of time with friends and also travel extensively. “You have to prioritize what’s important in life and then do it.”