Asking Questions, Getting Answers For Good Health

By Carol Burbank, PhD, RMT

Carol Burbank, PhD

More Cancer Awareness Articles

Asking Questions, Getting Answers For Good Health

Over 26,000 Marylanders are reported with cancer each year. We can be grateful for our excellent physicians, diagnostic tools and treatments. But we can’t simply depend on doctors for healing. Recovery comes in a package good medical service (traditional and alternative) to fit the needs of a proactive and supported patient.

Consider a client of mine, a woman with breast cancer who was naturally devastated by her diagnosis. She didn’t have strong support around her as she began treatment, so she often felt railroaded by her doctors. The side effects were crippling, but she didn’t complain. And no matter how appropriate the treatments they prescribed, she never felt comfortable asking them questions about drug combinations and alternatives. Her confidence and health declined.

It wasn’t until she joined a support group that she finally had an ongoing team to help her ask the questions that had been haunting her. In that moment, her attitude changed about her treatment. She was more proactive with her doctors. She learned to heal herself with Reiki, reducing recovery time from her surgery and easing the discomfort from chemotherapy. She found ways of working towards health, changing her diet, her daily routine, and her relationship with her doctors. She is now cancer free for three years.

Another woman I know, a good friend, struggled with a form of rare cancer so devastating that it had a 5% survival rate. In addition to using top specialists, she kept a journal (and her sense of humor), writing down her experiences during that devastating year. When doctors spoke to her as if she were the disease, not a person with an illness, she reached out to friends and family to remember her whole self and stay positive. She studied yoga to keep her body limber and her mood calm, and ultimately created a one-woman show celebrating her survival. That was 15 years ago, and although she had one leg amputated, she still practices yoga, enjoys dancing, and will see her son graduate from high school this year.

Because these women chose to control what they could, they embraced the very real possibility of surviving by creating a support team and creating a proactive and ultimately trusting relationship with their doctors. Their journey to health began with asking questions and being proactive, building their fullest emotional, spiritual and physical health, claiming their power and trusting their gut instinct.

Remember, with any illness, but especially one that threatens your life, it’s your body and your healing. Know your needs. Get them met. You deserve it.