Silver Platter Girl

The mind is a very powerful tool.

Trish Kinney, author of Silver Platter Girl from Seven Locks Press (www.silverplattergirl.com) is living proof of that. The fact that she is living at all is proof. A survivor of breast cancer, a survivor of sexual abuse, Kinney's inner strength and belief in the power of healing was the key to her survival.

Living in a sexually charged environment during her formative years eventually led Kinney to a place inside herself that was dark and painful. In her attempts to escape the pain, she placed herself in situations she was not proud of, knowing that what she was doing was not right, but going forward with the behavior anyway.

"It was shocking that I was able to so completely separate my secret life and growing sexual conflicts from my real life and I tried very hard, usually with some success, to forget that this was exactly how my father did it for so many years" she said.

Kinney's moment of realization came one day as she was watching the Oprah Winfrey show.

"It was as though I suddenly stood up inside myself and instantly recognized the feelings that had swirled in me for so very long," she said. "I realized my father was a classic sexual abuser and even though he had never actually raped me, he had molested me, and probably my sister, and had raised us in a sexually charged environment."

Kinney was always very connected to her feelings and was able to physically manifest her pain, even as a young child. When she was forced to leave her dog to go live in Turkey, she became ill. Only the reappearance of her beloved pet was able to cure her. As an adult, she continued to physically manifest her pain. After a particularly devastating encounter with James, a man she is in a long-term pseudo-sexual relationship with, she felt the beginning of the creation of her tumor.

"I instantly begin to create my tumor, the mass that will encompass all my pain and suffering and abuse and lust and self-loathing," she said. "It is as if all of these emotions begin a rush to my breast."

Kinney began a journey to self-awareness and forgiveness. She journaled her experiences. Her treatment included painful chemotherapy and a stem cell rescue, a type of bone marrow transplant. In her sterile room, which she called her cocoon, her compromised immune system was destroyed, along with her emotional trauma, and as her own donor, she made every cell in her body from scratch. She connected with only positive thoughts and people. By the time her treatment was complete; she had experienced a rebirth and began the process of building a new, healthy life. Many of the journal entries from this time period appear in her book.

Kinney realized that in order to truly be well, she needed to remove her parents from her life. The minute she found out she had cancer; she removed James from her life as well. She filled the space he used to occupy with love and hope, peace and contentment.

Kinney's story is an example of the power of the mind over the body. Her bravery in telling it touches the heart of the reader. Anyone who knows someone who is in pain, whether physical or emotional, will receive insight from this story.

"My legacy, the power of my story, is my willingness to stand up in the face of enormous pressure for what I believe is right, just and fair," she said. "Not only for me, but for all of us who have ever been controlled and manipulated, used and abused. For the God given right to say no."

Trish Kinney is an award winning documentary filmmaker, actress, dancer and choreographer. She is well known for speaking out about her amazing recovery from cancer and the profound impact of the mind/body connection. Trish and husband, Mark, have two sons, Andrew and Peter.