My Journey
From Three-Time Breast Cancer Thriver to My Renewal Era
Welcome to My Renewal Era. I’m Amy Slater.
I’m a mama to three beautiful boys, wife, a sister, a daughter, an entrepreneur, and a three-time breast cancer thriver. But above all, I am a woman who has walked through some of life’s most challenging moments and emerged with a deeper understanding of what it means to truly live, heal, and begin again.
My journey with breast cancer has changed me in ways I could never have imagined. It has challenged my beliefs, tested my resilience, deepened my intuition, and brought me face-to-face with some of my greatest fears. But it has also led me to a place of profound personal growth, renewed purpose, and a passion for helping others reconnect with themselves.
My story is not simply about surviving cancer. It is about discovering what it means to live with intention, reconnect with my inner strength, and create a life that feels whole in body, mind, and spirit.
My First Diagnosis — April 2014
In April 2014, my life changed when I was diagnosed with node positive metastatic breast cancer.
At the time, I was a single mother and entrepreneur, navigating life while trying to be everything my family and business needed me to be. My treatment included eight rounds of chemotherapy, 15 rounds of Herceptin, a double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction, and lymph node -removal aprox 15.
It was a time filled with uncertainty, difficult decisions, and challenges I had never anticipated. Yet even in the midst of it all, I continued showing up for my children and finding my way forward. There really wasn't any other choice.
That first experience taught me just how much a person can carry, how much strength can exist alongside fear, and how precious life truly is. It was the beginning of a journey that would eventually transform not only how I viewed my health, but how I viewed myself and the world around me.
The Moment Everything Changed — June 2024
When breast cancer returned in June 2024 (once again node positive), something within me shifted. Although I had walked this road before, I was no longer the same woman who had received that first diagnosis ten years earlier. I had changed, questioned, grown, and begun to see my life and my health through a different lens.
This time, I felt an undeniable pull to take a different path. I wanted to look deeper, to explore the connection between my body, mind, and spirit, and to become an active participant in my own healing in a way I hadn't experienced before.
This was the moment I made one of the biggest decisions of my life: I chose not to pursue chemotherapy.
It wasn't a decision I made lightly. I knew the weight of what I was choosing, and I knew it would challenge the expectations of the people around me. Fear, uncertainty, and other people's opinions were all part of the experience. But beneath the noise, I felt a deep desire to listen to myself, explore my options, and take responsibility for the decisions that felt right for me.
I began looking beyond the boundaries of what I had known before. I became more curious about the body's relationship with stress, emotions, energy, and overall well-being. I felt drawn to holistic practices that would allow me to nurture myself on every level, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, too.
For me, this was about more than choosing a different approach to treatment. It was the beginning of a profound personal awakening. I was learning to question, to trust myself, to trust my intuition, to trust my own healing powers, to take ownership of my choices, and to reconnect with the woman beneath the diagnosis.
On September 4, 2024, I underwent surgery with the surgeon who had cared for me during my first cancer journey. The tumour had been found beneath my implant, and an additional 12 lymph nodes were removed.
I wasn't walking away from fear; I was learning how to face it differently. I was learning that self-trust didn't mean having all the answers. It meant being willing to ask questions, seek information, remain open to learning, and take an active role in decisions about my own care.
Looking back, this was a defining turning point in my journey—not because I had discovered all the answers, but because I had begun asking different questions. It was the beginning of my deeper exploration into healing body, mind, and spirit, and the seed of what would eventually become My Renewal Era.
Another Turning Point — February 2025
In February 2025, another malignant tumour was discovered in my chest tissue, at the same site as my previous occurrence. I believe this to be residual from the 2nd reocurance.
Once again, I found myself facing difficult choices. I underwent a third surgery on March 27, 2025, with my trusted surgeon by my side.
For months, I had been firmly opposed to chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. I had spent so much time exploring my own beliefs about healing and trying to understand the path that felt right for me. I still felt very strongly against conventional treatment.
But this time, my decision became about something bigger than my own fears or preferences. It was about love, my family, and the future I wanted to continue creating with. After many conversations with my surgeon and my husband, and with my children at the heart of my decision, I chose to undergo 15 rounds of radiation to my left chest and underarm area, beginning in May 2025. (Chemo and immunotherapy were still out of the question for me).
It wasn't an easy decision, and it wasn't the path I had originally envisioned. But it was a decision made with the information, relationships, and understanding I had at that time.
That experience reinforced something I now hold close to my heart: healing is deeply personal. There is no single journey that belongs to everyone. We each deserve compassion, support, honest information, and the space to make informed decisions about our own care.
The Birth of My Renewal Era
Through these experiences, I began to understand that renewal is about so much more than recovering from illness.
It is about reconnecting with yourself when life has changed you. It is about finding moments of peace in uncertainty, learning to care for yourself in new ways, and remembering that you are still a whole person beyond whatever challenges you are facing.
My interest in holistic wellness grew into a genuine passion for practices that support the relationship between body, mind, and spirit. Through Reiki and energy healing, qigong, meditation, breathwork, and intentional self-care, I discovered meaningful ways to cultivate calm, reconnect with my body, and create space for a deeper sense of well-being.
These practices became an important part of my personal journey and inspired me to share what I was learning with others.
That is how My Renewal Era came to life.
Today, my passion extends beyond cancer coaching. I want to help people create space for themselves, reconnect with their inner wisdom, nurture their well-being, and find their own path toward greater balance and vitality.
Whether someone is navigating a cancer diagnosis, moving through a major life transition, feeling disconnected from themselves, or simply longing for a deeper sense of peace, I believe there is value in slowing down, listening inward, and making room for renewal.
I don't believe our hardest experiences have to define the rest of our lives. Sometimes, they become the beginning of a relationship with ourselves that we never knew we needed.
Why I Share My Story
I share my journey not because I have all the answers, but because I know what it feels like to face uncertainty and search for a way forward.
I know the importance of feeling heard, supported, and empowered. I know what it means to question, to learn, to change your mind, and to keep discovering who you are through life's unexpected turns.
My hope is that through My Renewal Era, I can offer others a space to pause, breathe, reconnect, and remember that caring for yourself matters. That your emotional well-being matters. That your sense of peace matters. And that you deserve to experience moments of joy, meaning, and connection through every season of life.
You are more than what you have been through. You are still becoming. And there is always room for renewal.
Thank you for being here and allowing me to share a little of my story with you.
With love and gratitude,
Amy Slater
Founder of My Renewal Era
“Wellness, in its most holistic form, is not merely the absence of illness, but a state of being that embraces vitality, connection, and care for the body, mind, and spirit.”
— Amy Slater