How to integrate Chinese Medicine into your Cancer recovery?
As a breast cancer survivor, I understand the essential need to receive mental, physical, and emotional support and can share the extraordinarily powerful outcomes these supports provide from the time of diagnosis to the time of full recovery. Being diagnosed with cancer was a very violent mental information to process which brought terror to my mind and heart. I will never forget the sharp sentence spoken by the oncologist and the trauma it created where nothing after that visit was audible to me. I remember floating outside the medical office, passing the nurse station, and walking toward the oncology coordinator to be briefed about the new reality I was about to enter.
I remember the loneliness of my heart, and the coldness of my breath while I was stepping into the elevator to get out of the building. I did not know who to call, or who to tell my sorry story. It was like I had just heard of a potential death sentence and was becoming aware of the overwhelming difficulty of making the best choices for my body, my mind, my heart, and my spirit.
Cancer means chaos. My life had been in chaos for a few years as I was recovering from an abusive relationship with a narcissist and had lost my community when I dared to crawl out of the relationship. I remember the oncologist sharing with me how he frequently witnessed women in the same situation. It felt weird to be in that group of women. I had such pride in being a strong independent woman but there was no denying, that my pattern of not holding healthy boundaries for myself had scarred me and left a print in my field. My first healing step was accepting to be sick, as for months I had been feeling abnormally tired and emotionally down. I thought I had a broken heart!
Cancer taught me to become the utmost honest with my feelings and speak my truth to the ultimate level of accuracy. Conditional love was no longer an option. As an empath and a healer, I had been accepting to give and accommodate and work too much while neglecting to nourish myself. I had to learn to carefully sit still, and I mean just sit and listen. I had to relearn to receive emotional support, I had to relearn to connect to my spiritual self, and I had to relearn to surrender and detach myself from all elements of my story that no longer served me. I searched for my healing team and started by finding an exceptional acupuncturist, a brilliant clinical herbalist, a phenomenal plastic surgeon, a delightful oncologist coordinator, and a necessary oncologist. I had the privilege of being supported by very few amazing friends and family members and the blessing of receiving the unconditional love and positive coaching of my son to stand back on my two feet. I furthered my studies in TCM, particularly in nutrition, and read a dozen books to fully grasp the whole picture of how to nourish my body, I researched nutraceuticals and custom herbal formulas, all of which I took diligently. The surgery was a very violent act and damaged some intercostal nerves, but I am deeply grateful I was able to receive a direct implant from the hand of my very skilled plastic surgeon which took and healed well. Cupping helped enormously in my recovery. I received acupuncture weekly and within two weeks post-surgery was able to go on hikes in the mountains to recharge my spirits, go back to work, and regain the appearance of a normal life.
I learned Cancer is an immune disorder, when the body is burnt out and the heart is empty, the cancer cells decide to establish themselves in a particular organ. I learned that cancer takes a very long time to become out of control and when it is diagnosed, oftentimes, it has already grabbed a piece of you and surgery is the best option. I learned that the more proactive I would be in nourishing my blood and strengthening my immune system the better I would have a chance to get to the strong and healthy side. Flirting with death is an interesting experience and I understood fully what it means when they say you have to fight it. Cancer is a battle that way. For me, I decided that I would be a grandmother and therefore, there was no way I would die at this time, as I have to finish my job as a mom and will be a very accomplished grandmother one day. From the time of diagnosis to the time of full recovery, it is of the utmost importance to have a team of gentle experts who guide you along the way.
Cancer does not have to be a terrorizing experience. It is just a bump on the road, an anomaly in one’s story, an opportunity to grow and love deeper, an invitation to seek daily the kindest, most loving, joyful, generous, and exponential human experience.
As a doctor in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine,
a somatic educator, and nutritionist,
I have an abundance of tools and expertise
that I am happy to share to support you during your recovery.
