When I was diagnosed just over a year ago, I was terrified beyond anything I had ever experienced before. I was dx at Stage 3, and it took me a long time to believe that there was any hope or that anybody else had survived similar. One of the things that has helped me hugely is reading inspirational books, but it took me quite some time to find the material that helped me the most. I would love to have had information on this forum which might have got me to it sooner! I thought I’d start a thread by recommending 3 of the books that I have found most helpful, and hope that others will join in with more recommendations.
- “Love, Medicine and Miracles” by Dr Bernie Siegel. Dr Siegel is a Yale-trained cancer surgeon who became disillusioned with the mechanical attitudes of Western medicine and began a programme of empowering patients and giving them hope to help them to heal.
- “Getting Well Again” by O Carl Simonton, Stephanie Matthews Simonton and James L Creighton. This is quite an old book (from the 60s or 70s I think) which outlines the mind-body techniques the Simontons (an oncologist and his pshycotherapist wife) used to help cancer patients. The book contains guided visualisations which I find very helpful.
- “Radical Remissions: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds” by Kelly A Turner. This is a very recent book. Kelly Turner has met with thousands of people who have had what she terms “radical remissions” (she defines this term in the book and there are several criteria but basically none of the cases have been fully explained by Western medicine). She has asked these radical remission survivors what they believe has helped them stay disease free, and has distilled her findings into 9 key factors. She’s not promising that doing these 9 things will cure cancer but just reporting what she has found, with some very inspiring stories along the way. The related website is www.radicalremission.com.
I know some might view all this as a bit hippy (which is hilarious if you knew me - I have an engineering degree!). I am absolutely convinced that in my own case my mental state contributed to my cancer so my mind might just be able to help me stay well. And anyway, even if practising meditation or visualisation does not extend my life by a single day, it’s giving me hope so that I can live my life better today :womanhappy:
Love to everyone x