When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I was very frightened about my prognosis and whether I’d survive. Previously, I had watched friends and family members go through cancer treatments and found it very upsetting and scary. So given my fear, I decided to be an obedient patient and do everything my doctors told me to do. I thought by being submissive that my survival rate would increase and my fears would go away. In theory, I was operating with negative energy toward my cancer diagnosis.
Then something magical happened. I asked a friend, who is an 18 year cancer survivor, to take me to my fourth infusion. On the thirty minute drive to the oncology clinic, I expressed my fears and asked her what her secret was for surviving cancer so long. She told me about a book titled, “Love, Medicine, & Miracles” by Bernie Siegel, MD, that she had read during her cancer treatments. My friend explained that setting an intention to survive cancer had a positive affect on her healing process. So when I returned home, I began to research Dr. Siegel’s philosophy.
I discovered that through his work as a surgeon and founder of the Exceptional Cancer Patients therapy group, Dr. Siegel has learned that cancer patients who develop a healthy self-love and give up their emotional repression are able to improve their immune system, overcome cancer and improve their survival rate. He also wrote about individuals with a high inner locus of control who believe that events in their life are derived primarily from their own actions. In other words, patients who took control of their health and became active members of their medical team were shown to live longer.
