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Preface
In January of 2001, after a month of being sick with what I thought
was the flu, I started to cough up blood. The diagnosis was an
advanced case of small cell lung cancer (the fast moving kind) with
a large inoperable tumor in my lung that was wrapped around my
pulmonary artery and another tumor that was located in my brain. All I wanted to know
was how the survivors had handled it. What did they do? What did
they eat? What was their attitude like? What did the survivors have
in common? To my surprise, the doctors I spoke to could not tell me.
All they could do was quote grim statistics and recommend the
conventional course of treatments.
The
information in this book is not meant
to take the place of your doctor’s advice. It is meant as a
supplement that will help clear up some of the confusion you will
encounter and give you the tools and direction to help you
restore your mind, body and spirit to an optimum state of
health. It came about
through my unyielding desire to learn what other survivors
did to beat the odds, combined with my own personal journey
developing the skills and knowledge I needed to overcome the
illness. In retrospect, this is: The guide I wish I'd had
when I was learning - How to Survive Lung Cancer.
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1. Decide You Want to Live!
Chapter one is all about the importance of maintaining a positive
winning attitude and why it is essential to surviving lung cancer. I
introduce concepts such as the mind/body connection and how the body
physically reacts to our state of mind. Also introduced are tools
that will help in maintaining a positive winning attitude such as
audio tapes/CDs by various authors to help with relaxation and
breathing techniques, positive affirmations and general healing on a
daily basis. The concepts introduced in this chapter lay the
groundwork for future chapters where you will learn to apply these
concepts to direct your body to heal.
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2. Conventional vs. Non-Conventional Medicine
This chapter defines and discusses conventional vs. non-conventional
medical approaches, multi-treatment centers, clinical trials and
general treatment options. Although I clearly do not advise the
patient on which way to go, I do recommend playing an
active role in the decision making process and arm them with
information to help. I cite studies of survivors and discuss what I
did in my particular case and why. I introduce the concept of when
in doubt, do what the survivors do, which is a combination of
conventional and non-conventional treatments. I also emphasize for
those who choose that route, the importance of informing your doctor
of any complementary alternative medicine (CAM) you are thinking of
trying before doing so, to make sure there is no conflict that could
interfere with your conventional treatments. Many of the thought
processes I went through are described in detail and I think will
provide comfort to others facing a similar set of circumstances.
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3. Making Decisions
Practical advice on making decisions when the world as you knew it
seems to be spinning out of control. This includes everything from
organizational tools, enlisting the help of a trusted friend or
relative, preparing a list of questions, understanding what type of
doctors and nurses you will be speaking to and how not to become
intimidated. It is important to be able to evaluate your team of
doctors and be involved in the decision making process in order to
better embrace your program and increase your odds for success.
Although each case is different, there are general questions that
should be asked as well as general ways to ask questions in order to
get the best information you can from at least two groups of doctors
before making a decision. Also discussed is weighing your options on
paper, checking out additional resources, emotions vs. intellect,
your inner voice, mixed with personal anecdotes of my own decision
making and what I learned in hindsight.
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4. Minimizing Stress
The APA reports that 75 to 90 percent of all physician office visits
are stress-related and that stress is linked to the six leading causes of death.
Yet, conventional medicine tends to address the illness and ignore the
underlying cause, leaving it to the patient to seek additional help to get at
the source of the problem. This chapter discusses stress in detail and on a
practical level, teaches how to minimize stress where and when possible to help
the body heal. By reducing emotional as well as physical stresses on the body,
your immune system will be able to direct more of its energy toward fighting the
cancer. Even good things that can be stressful are examined. I offer numerous
suggestions that will help, such as designating a spokesperson in order to avoid
repeating the cancer story again and again, which I think only empowers the
illness. I also suggest creating a wellness zone and address the concept of
allocating your energy wisely. I discuss chemotherapy and what to expect, how to
minimize its side effects and specific ways to protect your lungs, before during
and after treatments. I even discuss the biggest mistake I made and how to avoid
it from happening to you. Overall, this is a very informative chapter.
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5. Eating Well
One of the best ways to get healthy and stay that way is to eat
well. And it’s not just what you eat that counts, but how you eat can really
make a difference. Instead of offering menus, which can be found in publications
and websites listed in the back of the book, this chapter focuses on the
philosophy behind eating well to help in your fight against cancer. For example,
to maximize nutritional intake and minimize the physical stress on your body, it
helps to eat smaller portions but more often. In other words, spread out the
amount of food you eat throughout the day. This will help regulate your blood
sugar levels and won’t be so hard on your digestive system. I also discuss the
difference between ‘natural’ foods and ‘organic’ foods and why it is so
important to eat as many organics as possible at this particular point in time.
I strongly promote the juicing of vegetables such as carrots and discuss in
detail, how and why it works. I also discuss stepping up your protein intake and
eating fruit for fiber. Finally, in addressing vitamins and supplements, I
discuss the importance of talking to your doctor first, to make sure what you do
will not conflict with any treatments.
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6. Maintaining a Sense of Humor
This chapter discusses the benefits of humor when it comes to
healing and how laughter can actually produce chemical changes in the body that
will help boost the immune system. It also discusses how humor can be used as an
effective coping mechanism. I tell real stories of how I managed to lighten up
some of the darkest moments with humor that not only diffused the magnitude of a
situation but also helped to avoid buying into some of the doom and gloom,
making it easier to maintain a positive attitude. I discuss how making others
laugh can make you feel better just by making them feel better and how adding
humor turned acts of drudgery into moments I’d look forward to. Some of the
humor may seem a bit twisted but it actually helped get me through some of the
toughest times I’ve ever faced. Also discussed is Norman Cousin’s book, ‘Anatomy
of an Illness’ and how that spawned studies on laughter and healing. The stories
in this chapter make me laugh to this day.
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7. Breathing and Visualization Techniques
I believe the most powerful and effective of all survival tools are
formed by combining breathing exercises with visualization techniques as
discussed in this chapter. This is where you will learn creative ways to direct
your body to heal itself. You will also learn how to customize these techniques
and tailor them to suit your specific needs. Through adapting and adopting these
techniques, you will be able to better embrace these tools, making them even
more powerful and effective.
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8. Disposing of Fear
The difficulty in dealing with fear is its intangible nature, making
it difficult to really get your hands around. The problem is that fear can be
debilitating and if it gets out of control can derail the best of efforts to
heal. Therefore, it needs to be dealt with. In this chapter, I teach how to
dispose of fear with simple visual techniques I learned that can be repeated as
often as necessary until it simply goes away. These techniques can also be used
to effectively deal with anxiety and fear of death. The tools are invaluable and
something I wish I had from the start.
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9. Energy Work and Integrative Therapies
A fascinating discussion on complementary alternative medicine from
(acupuncture to yoga) and how these therapies are gaining acceptance in modern
science, yet, for the most part are based on ancient principles. With an
increasing number of alternatives and integrative therapies available for the
treatment of cancer, I offer advice on how to decide which one or ones to try
and how to go about it. Picking up on concepts discussed earlier in the book,
such as the power of positive thinking, visualization techniques and the
mind/body connection, I apply these concepts on a deeper level to this
discussion. Furthermore, this chapter deals with therapies that do not fit into
our current scientific world view and how to be skeptical but still have an open
mind. After all, just because we can’t prove something today, does not mean that
it doesn’t exist. For example, in the early 1800’s before developing more
powerful microscopes, we couldn’t prove theories on the existence of germs,
which today are accepted in everyday medical practice. Spiced with personal
anecdotes and studies in Psychology and Para-Psychology, I tie it all together
through cross cultural comparisons that illustrate how most of these approaches
utilize the same underlying principles and universal energy that flows through
all of us, and how this energy can be used to reestablish and maintain a healthy
balance of mind, body and spirit.
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10. Love and Prayer
This chapter begins by discussing the power of love, from a mother’s
ability to kiss a bruise and make the pain go away to the importance of having a
loving self-image and love of life in general. Although it is only natural at
times, especially while going through cancer treatments to feel sorry for
yourself, making it difficult to feel love, feeling too sorry or being overly
critical can be detrimental to your health. To address this, I offer ways to
cope with these issues, including bringing back loving moments in your past to
help you heal in the present.
Praying to a higher order can also offer an
infinite and powerful source of healing. It can provide great comfort and peace
of mind. In fact, most people when faced with a serious illness or a loved one
who is seriously ill, will turn to prayer. Even most non-believers will think of
praying when facing death or a near death experience. In addition, praying and
the belief in God, or some sort of higher order does not have to be based on a
specific denomination. Nor does it have to be associated with a traditional
father figure. It can simply be the belief in the
universal energy or life force that is all around us. This chapter ends with an
interesting look at prayer studies conducted by Dr. Mitch Krucoff, Cardiologist
and Director of Interventional Clinical Trials at Duke.
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11. Healing Through Forgiveness
From the start, I knew in order to completely survive the cancer, I had to
address the underlying causes, in other words, how and why it began in the first
place. After all, cancer is really the eating up of one’s own body, so the body
is literally destroying itself, a scary thought! If the body is really made to
heal itself, what went wrong? Why did I get sick? What did I do to deserve it?
One of the issues I deal with in this chapter is smoking and letting go of any
guilt associated with it. In addition, considering the fact that there are
people who get lung cancer without ever smoking, as well as smokers who never
get cancer, I knew there was more to it that I needed to understand. I take the
reader through my journey by delving deeper into concepts discussed throughout
the book, leading to healing through forgiveness. In order to be completely
healthy, you must have a healthy mind, a healthy body and a healthy spirit.
Forgiveness is essential to spiritual health because holding on to old issues of
anger and resentment destroys your spirit. Instead of living in the present, you
will be exhausting your spirit on past hurts and angers. The way to help your
body reach its full potential and optimum state of health is to free your spirit
from harboring ill feelings by healing through forgiveness. To accomplish this,
I offer specific techniques to practice along with listening to certain audio
tapes/CDs that will help you, and positive affirmations that you can adapt and
adopt.
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12. After Completing Conventional Treatments
Once treatments are over, the structure that you have been accustomed to will
end as well. Without having to go in for treatments, it’s easy to fall back into
some of the bad habits such as eating poorly or working obsessively that helped
bring on the illness to begin with. Therefore, it is important to remain mindful
of the things you did to reach this point. Another area discussed is the
periodic check-ups and scans that you have to go through and how that plays on
your mind, as well as advice on how to handle it. I also discuss specific side
effects that I suffered from, such as nerve damage throughout my body and what I
did to overcome it. And finally, I describe how I truly got beyond the cancer
psychologically and back to living a healthy life, cancer free!
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Postscript
I begin by posing the question, so why did I survive against all
odds? I then sum it up and tie it all together, touching on the key points and
putting it all in perspective. I talk about the positives that can and have come
out of a negative situation, and I encourage patients to help others as they
create their own magical combination that brings them back to their optimum
state of health.
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Additional Resources Available
This is a selection of websites, books, tapes and organizations to further research
anything in depth, such as ongoing research in the field, where to look for
books on nutrition,
and other useful information.
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