Tag: cancer recovery

Grace Gawler – how the uncertainty principle influences patient’s choices in cancer treatments

Examining the ‘Uncertainty Principle’ and How it Negatively Influences Cancer Treatment Choices

 As a director of an integrated cancer solutions charity in Queensland, in my years working in the cancer industry, I remain shocked at the large numbers of cancer patients abandoning conventional treatment in favour of alternative therapies. Unfortunately I’ve also seen the terrible results of such choices ranging from emaciation, electrolyte depletion, metabolic exhaustion, insidious spread of cancer and associated pain increase and even death. Why?

More troubling is the number of ‘integrative’medicine GPs who are not; for the patient’s benefit; collaborating or communicating with mainstream doctors, oncologists or other therapists involved in the patients care. I’ve witnessed there to be little or no communication between treating doctors who should all be active members of the team devoted to a patient’s survival.  It’s also important that integrative medicine GPs  don’t abandon scientific training in favour of promoting excessive supplements – often via affiliations or network marketing initiatives or by promoting dubious diets like Gerson, vegan diets, coffee enemas, various electrical treatments and many other forms of therapy whose evidence is questionable.

Whether a combination of positive placebo and supplements, one very common issue is the plight of cancer patients who are surviving on will power and positive thinking…it appears that strategy has a use by date – they eventually hit a brick wall and deteriorate rapidly when there is a sudden downturn in their condition; often a condition that could have been avoided had they sought proper medical advice. It is a trap for the unwary patient because their general wellbeing may have increased temporarily; but what we see far too often are patients who are entranced by some therapists into denial of their symptoms. They have soldiered on and used up a lot of energy in their struggle for survival. The question begs – What is it in the psyche that encourages cancer patients to completely abandon conventional medicine and play Russian roulette with their lives?

Last week I heard a medical doctor say …”We give people antibiotics for an infection – they don’t have to believe in them in order to have them work- the just do!” He has a point!

At the time I had been thinking about a young man in his late teens, a friend of a friend whose mum implicitly believed in natural medicines, refusing medical advice – he had developed pnuemonia – Without treatment, he died within 4 days.
People believe that there is a certainty in natural medicines because they are natural…they can also believe the same of conventional medicine. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between…

An article in the Guardian newspaper (UK) – We Must Learn to Love Uncertainty and Failure made these points:-

  1. Uncertainty is a central component of what makes science successful.
  2. The idea of something being “scientifically proven” was practically an oxymoron
  3. The very foundation of science is to keep the door open to doubt.
  4. A ‘good scientist’ is never ‘certain’ – adopts different view if better evidence avails.

Perhaps I had discovered an answer to my questions!

  1. Alternative cancer treatments are promoted with compelling certainty and sophistication.
  2. Simultaneously alt/med amplifies the uncertainty of conventional medicines.
  3. Terminology – ‘slash, burn and poison’ – denigrates conventional treatment and sows fear.
  4. Many patients we see in our practice are terrified to stop taking their supplements. It is implied by some natural therapists that if patients stop using alt/med methods they will die or be toxic from their medical treatments—ironic that an industry that claims to promote wellbeing has an emphasis on fear – the negative placebo.
  5. Alt/med has successfully promoted the image of the greedy ‘big pharma’ but little is said about alt/med avarice, pseudo science and deception – illustrated below.

Last week we met a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy while simultaneously spending $1100.00 a week on ‘secret’ alternative treatment – but afraid to give it up because it ‘seemed to be working’ – he didn’t notice anything or feel any better – but was afraid to change what he was doing and had been doing for the past 2 years. I recommended an oncologist – He is now in hospital for emergency drainage of ascites ( fluid accumulation in the abdomen) – 10 litres of fluid has been removed. His naturaopath missed the warning signs. This patient is typical of many, who driven by the fear of their diagnosis, don’t want uncertainty and thus are easily lured by the certainty, the increasingly sophisticated ‘pseudo’ science and ‘aura’ of alternate therapies.

Conclusion:  There is an important role for complementary (CAM) therapies in cancer medicine, but the role of alt/med is questionable as is usage of the often touted term ‘evidence-based’ medicine. A recent Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) article disclosed significant errors in a high profile cancer patient recovery story that has influenced the course of alternative, complementary and lifestyle medicine in Australasia for 32 years. It has even influenced peak training bodies such as The Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA). In the light of the MJA disclosures, the question of what is evidence-based integrative medicine must be addressed in the public interest.

Happily excellent working models exist in Singapore and Hong Kong. These set the standard for excellence for integrative, or as I now like to call it, collaborative cancer medicine. The winner is the cancer patient.
References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/15/uncertainty-failure-edge-question

National Cancer Centre, Singapore (NCCS).   Strong Team-Based, Evidence-based Practice  http://www.nccs.com.sg/medprof/04.htm

Grace Gawler MJA article – Cancer patients at risk from inaccurate clinical reporting in a high-profile alternative treatment story: comments and corrections – Sept 20 2010

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html

Dr Linda Calabresi – Australian Doctor article
http://insidewww.australiandoctor.com.au/news/58/0c06d258.asp

Ian Gawler response – Australian Doctor article
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

 

Grace Gawler – how the uncertainty principle influences patient's choices in cancer treatments

Examining the ‘Uncertainty Principle’ and How it Negatively Influences Cancer Treatment Choices

 As a director of an integrated cancer solutions charity in Queensland, in my years working in the cancer industry, I remain shocked at the large numbers of cancer patients abandoning conventional treatment in favour of alternative therapies. Unfortunately I’ve also seen the terrible results of such choices ranging from emaciation, electrolyte depletion, metabolic exhaustion, insidious spread of cancer and associated pain increase and even death. Why?

More troubling is the number of ‘integrative’medicine GPs who are not; for the patient’s benefit; collaborating or communicating with mainstream doctors, oncologists or other therapists involved in the patients care. I’ve witnessed there to be little or no communication between treating doctors who should all be active members of the team devoted to a patient’s survival.  It’s also important that integrative medicine GPs  don’t abandon scientific training in favour of promoting excessive supplements – often via affiliations or network marketing initiatives or by promoting dubious diets like Gerson, vegan diets, coffee enemas, various electrical treatments and many other forms of therapy whose evidence is questionable.

Whether a combination of positive placebo and supplements, one very common issue is the plight of cancer patients who are surviving on will power and positive thinking…it appears that strategy has a use by date – they eventually hit a brick wall and deteriorate rapidly when there is a sudden downturn in their condition; often a condition that could have been avoided had they sought proper medical advice. It is a trap for the unwary patient because their general wellbeing may have increased temporarily; but what we see far too often are patients who are entranced by some therapists into denial of their symptoms. They have soldiered on and used up a lot of energy in their struggle for survival. The question begs – What is it in the psyche that encourages cancer patients to completely abandon conventional medicine and play Russian roulette with their lives?

Last week I heard a medical doctor say …”We give people antibiotics for an infection – they don’t have to believe in them in order to have them work- the just do!” He has a point!

At the time I had been thinking about a young man in his late teens, a friend of a friend whose mum implicitly believed in natural medicines, refusing medical advice – he had developed pnuemonia – Without treatment, he died within 4 days.
People believe that there is a certainty in natural medicines because they are natural…they can also believe the same of conventional medicine. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between…

An article in the Guardian newspaper (UK) – We Must Learn to Love Uncertainty and Failure made these points:-

  1. Uncertainty is a central component of what makes science successful.
  2. The idea of something being “scientifically proven” was practically an oxymoron
  3. The very foundation of science is to keep the door open to doubt.
  4. A ‘good scientist’ is never ‘certain’ – adopts different view if better evidence avails.

Perhaps I had discovered an answer to my questions!

  1. Alternative cancer treatments are promoted with compelling certainty and sophistication.
  2. Simultaneously alt/med amplifies the uncertainty of conventional medicines.
  3. Terminology – ‘slash, burn and poison’ – denigrates conventional treatment and sows fear.
  4. Many patients we see in our practice are terrified to stop taking their supplements. It is implied by some natural therapists that if patients stop using alt/med methods they will die or be toxic from their medical treatments—ironic that an industry that claims to promote wellbeing has an emphasis on fear – the negative placebo.
  5. Alt/med has successfully promoted the image of the greedy ‘big pharma’ but little is said about alt/med avarice, pseudo science and deception – illustrated below.

Last week we met a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy while simultaneously spending $1100.00 a week on ‘secret’ alternative treatment – but afraid to give it up because it ‘seemed to be working’ – he didn’t notice anything or feel any better – but was afraid to change what he was doing and had been doing for the past 2 years. I recommended an oncologist – He is now in hospital for emergency drainage of ascites ( fluid accumulation in the abdomen) – 10 litres of fluid has been removed. His naturaopath missed the warning signs. This patient is typical of many, who driven by the fear of their diagnosis, don’t want uncertainty and thus are easily lured by the certainty, the increasingly sophisticated ‘pseudo’ science and ‘aura’ of alternate therapies.

Conclusion:  There is an important role for complementary (CAM) therapies in cancer medicine, but the role of alt/med is questionable as is usage of the often touted term ‘evidence-based’ medicine. A recent Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) article disclosed significant errors in a high profile cancer patient recovery story that has influenced the course of alternative, complementary and lifestyle medicine in Australasia for 32 years. It has even influenced peak training bodies such as The Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA). In the light of the MJA disclosures, the question of what is evidence-based integrative medicine must be addressed in the public interest.

Happily excellent working models exist in Singapore and Hong Kong. These set the standard for excellence for integrative, or as I now like to call it, collaborative cancer medicine. The winner is the cancer patient.
References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/15/uncertainty-failure-edge-question

National Cancer Centre, Singapore (NCCS).   Strong Team-Based, Evidence-based Practice  http://www.nccs.com.sg/medprof/04.htm

Grace Gawler MJA article – Cancer patients at risk from inaccurate clinical reporting in a high-profile alternative treatment story: comments and corrections – Sept 20 2010

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html

Dr Linda Calabresi – Australian Doctor article
http://insidewww.australiandoctor.com.au/news/58/0c06d258.asp

Ian Gawler response – Australian Doctor article
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

 

Breast Cancer eBook – Women of Silence – The Emotional Healing of Breast Cancer – Grace Gawler

 Women Of Silence -The Emotional Healing of Breast Cancer … Now for the first time this breast cancer recovery classic, updated and including videos, is available for worldwide distribution in eBook format. (239pp) Click here to purchase – $9.99

Women of Silence
Women of Silence

I have personally assisted more than 4000 women with breast cancer around the globe by means of residential retreats, consultations and support groups. This book reflects wisdom from their stories as well as their successes and day to day challenges. Realistic and powerful – Women of Silence is a book that has already changed the lives of women around the world. The new affordable eBook format gives women greater access in their home to read and study these life saving strategies.
Women of Silence remains the only book written solely about the importance of emotional healing in recovery from breast cancer. Described as a timeless classic, Women of Silence remains a valuable tool in every woman’s breast cancer Recovery Kit. The book also discusses prevention. There is a section for carers and lists of questions to ask your medical practitioner.
The book is indexed so that it is easy to find relevant topics for a brief read – very important when women are traumatised from the diagnosis alone as well as from treatments.

“This book is full of thoughtful, practical insights to everyday living with cancer. I would like all my colleagues to read it.”                 
Professor R.R. Hall- Lead Clinician, Northern cancer Network, NHS – UK (now retired)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAP9tvFdthI&feature=related]

“An essential companion for all women, it answers all the questions you often don’t want to ask. Packed with useful exercises to help you regain control of your situation, it will help you begin the healing process during the emotional turmoil that surrounding breast cancer.”  Professor Karol Sikora Professor of Cancer Medicine, Imperial college Hammersmith Hospital London UK – Integrataed Cancer Trust UK 
Dr Ruth Sewell- Former Senior psycho-therapist at Penny Brohn Centre (Bristol Cancer Help Centre) – Pill Bristol UK  2009 – Course Tutor: Diploma in the Study of Integrated Medicine, Integrated Health Trust, Bath UK, had this to say about ‘Women of Silence: the Emotional Healing of Breast Cancer …
‘Women of Silence’ provides a practical and thoughtful approach to understanding the emotional consequences and responses women affected by breast cancer can experience.
It is book that answers questions that women often don’t get to ask, or even want to ask as they approach the psychological, emotional and spiritual challenges that this all too common disease creates. There are exercises to help in the process of rebuilding confidence and taking back emotional control.
Grace is a highly experienced therapist and teacher and makes no apologies for ‘saying it as it is’. This book will prove an invaluable asset to all therapists who want to really understand how to support their clients and their carers during and after the time of breast cancer.
NEW eBook format     $9.99 Instructions for download provided.**

“Grace writes with authority and compassion. She provides women with an opportunity to regard their adversity as a great opportunity.”  Professor Neville Davidson, Professor in Clinical Oncology, Bloomfield Hospital Essex. Chairman H.E.A.L Cancer Charity and Helen Rollason Cancer Care Appeal.

Soft cover book $25.00 includes P&H within Australia

 or Visit   www.gracegawler.com  www.gracegawler.com/institute

**At online shop scroll for product, select secure paymate icon, provide details, submit payment. On receipt of payment you will be emailed a URL which takes you to secured eBook (Book Guard Pro). You will be asked to add your name and email. You will then be given your personal security code enabling you to download your eBook. Simple,secure & efficient.

Grace Gawler’s Approach – How to Be a Succesful Patient!

Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets represents the basis of the the work that I pioneered at the Gawler Foundation. By the time Ian and I founded the Gawler Foundation in the early 80’s  (initally called the Australian Cancer Patients Foundation) I had already witnessed the pros and cons and subsequent choices that many cancer patients made in desperation to find their recovery. In those days the internet did not exist and cancer treatment that was alternative was an underground movement.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUldeyUXu70]
I learned a great deal from my patients and over the decades I investigated how people could with a cancer diagnosis could spin gold from straw-crafting advantage from adversity. There was one common ingredient that made a difference – this is distilled in the eBook Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets. Only $9.99 AUD
Buy online: Click Here

Read reviews on this blog.

Grace Gawler's Approach – How to Be a Succesful Patient!

Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets represents the basis of the the work that I pioneered at the Gawler Foundation. By the time Ian and I founded the Gawler Foundation in the early 80’s  (initally called the Australian Cancer Patients Foundation) I had already witnessed the pros and cons and subsequent choices that many cancer patients made in desperation to find their recovery. In those days the internet did not exist and cancer treatment that was alternative was an underground movement.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUldeyUXu70]
I learned a great deal from my patients and over the decades I investigated how people could with a cancer diagnosis could spin gold from straw-crafting advantage from adversity. There was one common ingredient that made a difference – this is distilled in the eBook Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets. Only $9.99 AUD
Buy online: Click Here

Read reviews on this blog.

Conquering Cancer by Learning From the True Stories of Recovered Patients

Read the latest article on Ezine about how cancer patients can best begin their journey by exzinebuilding resilient foundations.  “…..I have worked at the coal-face of cancer for 35 years with client numbers of over 13,000. I have had the privilege of working with one large targeted group of people with cancer who have been willing to share their mistakes and successes as well as their experiences, choices and outcomes. I listened to them and learned a valuable lesson or two….”
Read the entire article at

http://ezinearticles.com/?Conquering-Cancer-by-Learning-From-the-True-Stories-of-Recovered-Patients&id=5710598

More information about Grace:      www.gracegawler.com  www.gracegawler.com/institute

eBook Conquering Cancer – Oregon USA Rafting for Recovery 2011 Grace Gawler and Pip Cornall

Rafting for Recovery is a soft eco adventure tour especially designed for people with cancer or for those who have recovered. The tour is for USA citizens and we are looking for US corporate sponsors who might like to give a cancer patient the experience of their life that could improve their wellbeing and longevity. On and off the river we will be teaching strategies for recovery based on my new eBook Conquering Cancer -Survivor’s Secrets. Your raft guide leader/organiser Pip Cornall has safely taken children and 90 year olds on these amazing adventures. If you are interested as a sponsor or as a participant or if you have any enquiries – Please contact us at The Grace Gawler Institute – Gold Coast Australia.
E – institute@gracegawler.com  www.gracegawler.com/institute  


  Turn on your speakers and enjoy the video presentation below
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD98WTUhblY&w=480&h=390]

Conquering Cancer with Grace – Grace Gawler's New eBook

Please scroll below for sample pages and reviews from my new eBook
Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
The subject of this eBook is how you can learn to value-add to your recovery.

Cancer Survival
Conquering Cancer Survivor’s Secrets

For most of my working life I have investigated key elements that enable cancer patients to survive & thrive or prolong their life way beyond expectation. One theme that holds true for thousands of survivors and thrivers was their ability to use the experience of cancer to transform their lives in order to survive and thrive! In other words, losing your life in order to find your life!
When I began working in the field of cancer more than 35 years ago there was an appalling lack of information available for patients and caregivers – with no computers, the world was different place for the ‘seeker’ of options! The internet has brought wonderful additions such as access to this eBook technology, however, as a cancer patient, one click of a mouse; can instantly transport you to the world of confusion, information overload and elevated stress responses as you sift through the maze of ‘magic-bullet’ cancer cures. Information overload can generate fear, causing overwhelm or emotional paralysis due to too many options – too many things to do. This often goes hand in hand with financial stress caused by too many supplements and resources. It is a mine field for the uninitiated and unsuspecting cancer patient. Take care—scams abound!

As long as the focus stays just on alternative, complementary or orthodox medicine and various combinations of those modalities – there will remain suffering for patients and families. It is imperative that first-line humanistic medicine is incorporated to complete the holistic model. Health professionals need to play a part in creating a new paradigm of care for cancer patients. Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets is about that paradigm shift.

Read latest reviews 
Four-time cancer Survivor and author Bob Ellal has this to say about Conquering Cancer…
“I think it’s marvellous, extraordinary, as it approaches a cancer patient’s attitude on many levels. I think you’re spot on: that’s the starting point, and the continuous point. This is an important book as it advises people to discuss their emotions, acknowledge them, then get on with coping and perhaps finding ways to participate in their own recovery.  I would recommend this book highly as the ‘alpha point’ for anyone diagnosed with cancer. “

Jeff Hutner – New Paradigm Digest writes in his blog…
http://newparadigmdigest.com/5165/conquering-cancer-with-grace/

Sample read –  pp 63-65  – Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
 Establishing or re-Building Personal Boundaries

A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perhaps the most underestimated contributor to ill health in my three decades of experience is a person’s lack of clear and definite boundaries. Healthy boundaries are a very important part of our emotional health and our general wellbeing. Cancer patients or those with other enduring illness will inevitably need help with boundary issues.

 A boundary is a limit set by you either by past conditioning or by your empowered intention. These self-limits when established determine what is identified as self and what is identified as not self.

A boundary is also described as your ‘choice field’ where you choose who or what you let in and who or what you keep out. Others describe a boundary as a semi-permeable, invisible, resilient but flexible membrane that surrounds us. In its healthy state it bends and flexes as our mind decides what is healthy to allow into ‘our space’. An interesting analogy is that our cell walls perform the same function in protecting us from invaders and take-over bids by rogue cells!

Boundaries may have been learned or not learned in your family of origin or they may have been altered as you travelled through life. Boundaries can be non-existent and this is often the case with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) because when we become dispirited or separated out from life it will reflect in the way we deal with others and the illness itself. For example a patient who is feeling hopeless and helpless may give up because they feel daunted, fragile and boundary-less. This can be related to stage one in the three stages of healing model.
The opposite can also be the case where a patient builds solid ‘emotional walls’ in order to survive—for example resilient coping when the patient pushes on, declining help from others. Whatever way the pendulum has swung, learning to create or recreate healthy boundaries has huge benefits in how we live our life.

 When you cannot contain your own energy within your own boundaries or limits then others can become personal ‘space invaders’ Patients have described this as a sense all the energy just bleeding out of them. Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy was aware of this phenomenon and often told clients to “beware of the vibe suckers!” These he said are the people who can invade ‘your space’, and if you were feeling good beforehand, once they leave, you feel spent and drained. In that situation, an unhealthy energy exchange has just taken place between the two of you.
Many patients tell me they feel as if they have ‘disappeared’ when consulting with their oncologist. This is not a good time for absence of boundaries and is often the source of many miscommunications between doctors and patients. I cannot over emphasise the importance of taking a scribe or recording a consultation with the oncologist’s permission of course. Later make notes and listen and re-listen, ask questions before making decisions.

How to identify your boundaries or lack of them and the boundaries of those around you?
If you have healthy boundaries you will be an empowered person who knows and speaks their mind, has self-mastery, charisma and can very politely say “no” and mean it without feeling guilty. As well you will not merge or get over-involved in the affairs of others so that you take on their problems in a personal way. Your relationships will build respect and an ease with being direct.

If you have a boundary issue you will notice:   

  1.  Fatigue and the associated energy drain when under challenge or with others. This is a major signal that boundaries are fragile and vulnerable. This is often experienced where there are power struggles and control issues in relationships.
  2.  Indecision, inability to focus, forgetfulness and excessive daydreaming.
  3.  If you have been trying to meditate: attempts are often thwarted as you tend towards drifting, falling asleep or feeling scattered and overwhelmed. There is often a feeling of being drained or jumpy after meditation rather than feeling energised.
  4. There are often feelings of “being beside yourself”, disconnected, numbed and feeling as if one is functioning on automatic pilot.
  5.  You can become overwhelmed when under pressure or for some people so walled off that they become unreachable.

The issue of boundaries could fill an entire book – however if you see yourself in these few pages, there are some self-help steps you can take, but there is no substitute for seeking therapy such as professional help of a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

To purchase your eBook copy – Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
Please visit my online shop at www.gracegawler.com or www.gracegawler.com/institute

Conquering Cancer with Grace – Grace Gawler’s New eBook

Please scroll below for sample pages and reviews from my new eBook
Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
The subject of this eBook is how you can learn to value-add to your recovery.

Cancer Survival
Conquering Cancer Survivor’s Secrets

For most of my working life I have investigated key elements that enable cancer patients to survive & thrive or prolong their life way beyond expectation. One theme that holds true for thousands of survivors and thrivers was their ability to use the experience of cancer to transform their lives in order to survive and thrive! In other words, losing your life in order to find your life!
When I began working in the field of cancer more than 35 years ago there was an appalling lack of information available for patients and caregivers – with no computers, the world was different place for the ‘seeker’ of options! The internet has brought wonderful additions such as access to this eBook technology, however, as a cancer patient, one click of a mouse; can instantly transport you to the world of confusion, information overload and elevated stress responses as you sift through the maze of ‘magic-bullet’ cancer cures. Information overload can generate fear, causing overwhelm or emotional paralysis due to too many options – too many things to do. This often goes hand in hand with financial stress caused by too many supplements and resources. It is a mine field for the uninitiated and unsuspecting cancer patient. Take care—scams abound!

As long as the focus stays just on alternative, complementary or orthodox medicine and various combinations of those modalities – there will remain suffering for patients and families. It is imperative that first-line humanistic medicine is incorporated to complete the holistic model. Health professionals need to play a part in creating a new paradigm of care for cancer patients. Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets is about that paradigm shift.

Read latest reviews 
Four-time cancer Survivor and author Bob Ellal has this to say about Conquering Cancer…
“I think it’s marvellous, extraordinary, as it approaches a cancer patient’s attitude on many levels. I think you’re spot on: that’s the starting point, and the continuous point. This is an important book as it advises people to discuss their emotions, acknowledge them, then get on with coping and perhaps finding ways to participate in their own recovery.  I would recommend this book highly as the ‘alpha point’ for anyone diagnosed with cancer. “

Jeff Hutner – New Paradigm Digest writes in his blog…
http://newparadigmdigest.com/5165/conquering-cancer-with-grace/

Sample read –  pp 63-65  – Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
 Establishing or re-Building Personal Boundaries

A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.   Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perhaps the most underestimated contributor to ill health in my three decades of experience is a person’s lack of clear and definite boundaries. Healthy boundaries are a very important part of our emotional health and our general wellbeing. Cancer patients or those with other enduring illness will inevitably need help with boundary issues.

 A boundary is a limit set by you either by past conditioning or by your empowered intention. These self-limits when established determine what is identified as self and what is identified as not self.

A boundary is also described as your ‘choice field’ where you choose who or what you let in and who or what you keep out. Others describe a boundary as a semi-permeable, invisible, resilient but flexible membrane that surrounds us. In its healthy state it bends and flexes as our mind decides what is healthy to allow into ‘our space’. An interesting analogy is that our cell walls perform the same function in protecting us from invaders and take-over bids by rogue cells!

Boundaries may have been learned or not learned in your family of origin or they may have been altered as you travelled through life. Boundaries can be non-existent and this is often the case with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) because when we become dispirited or separated out from life it will reflect in the way we deal with others and the illness itself. For example a patient who is feeling hopeless and helpless may give up because they feel daunted, fragile and boundary-less. This can be related to stage one in the three stages of healing model.
The opposite can also be the case where a patient builds solid ‘emotional walls’ in order to survive—for example resilient coping when the patient pushes on, declining help from others. Whatever way the pendulum has swung, learning to create or recreate healthy boundaries has huge benefits in how we live our life.

 When you cannot contain your own energy within your own boundaries or limits then others can become personal ‘space invaders’ Patients have described this as a sense all the energy just bleeding out of them. Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy was aware of this phenomenon and often told clients to “beware of the vibe suckers!” These he said are the people who can invade ‘your space’, and if you were feeling good beforehand, once they leave, you feel spent and drained. In that situation, an unhealthy energy exchange has just taken place between the two of you.
Many patients tell me they feel as if they have ‘disappeared’ when consulting with their oncologist. This is not a good time for absence of boundaries and is often the source of many miscommunications between doctors and patients. I cannot over emphasise the importance of taking a scribe or recording a consultation with the oncologist’s permission of course. Later make notes and listen and re-listen, ask questions before making decisions.

How to identify your boundaries or lack of them and the boundaries of those around you?
If you have healthy boundaries you will be an empowered person who knows and speaks their mind, has self-mastery, charisma and can very politely say “no” and mean it without feeling guilty. As well you will not merge or get over-involved in the affairs of others so that you take on their problems in a personal way. Your relationships will build respect and an ease with being direct.

If you have a boundary issue you will notice:   

  1.  Fatigue and the associated energy drain when under challenge or with others. This is a major signal that boundaries are fragile and vulnerable. This is often experienced where there are power struggles and control issues in relationships.
  2.  Indecision, inability to focus, forgetfulness and excessive daydreaming.
  3.  If you have been trying to meditate: attempts are often thwarted as you tend towards drifting, falling asleep or feeling scattered and overwhelmed. There is often a feeling of being drained or jumpy after meditation rather than feeling energised.
  4. There are often feelings of “being beside yourself”, disconnected, numbed and feeling as if one is functioning on automatic pilot.
  5.  You can become overwhelmed when under pressure or for some people so walled off that they become unreachable.

The issue of boundaries could fill an entire book – however if you see yourself in these few pages, there are some self-help steps you can take, but there is no substitute for seeking therapy such as professional help of a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist.

To purchase your eBook copy – Conquering Cancer – Survivors Secrets
Please visit my online shop at www.gracegawler.com or www.gracegawler.com/institute

Conquering Cancer – Survivor’s Secrets Grace Gawler

Conquering Cancer – Survivor’s Secrets – A Companion Guide by Grace Gawler…
Happy New Year! It seems rather auspicious to have released an eBook about Survival on January 8 because on this day in January  2003, I was undergoing Surgery in Rotterdam – a world first experimental bionic surgery that gave me back my life after failed ileostomies and colostomies! That’s a long story to tell but suffice to say, after 20 surgical procedures over 13 years and many near death situations – I greet every day as a precious chance to live life with a passion! If ever I had taken a leap of Faith in my life – then this was it! Ironically January 8 was also the day that my ex husband Ian had surgery to remove his leg which was affected by bone cancer. That incident initiated my long association with cancer and survival.

Conquering Cancer Survivor's Secrets

So –  I have just produced and released an eBook for cancer patients that focuses on dealing with the illness by rediscovering and utilising their authentic self; in other words accessing what they already know and using those strategies to create a health restoration plan.
There is no focus on diet, supplements or lifestyle, because in my experience, when patients learn to live from their authentic self, they tend to make the right decisions for themselves.

Rather than focusing on what you can ingest to cure cancer – this approach invites you to explore your illness creatively, spinning gold from straw and living for however long you can authentically and with purpose and meaning. With 35 years experience in the field of cancer strategies, I have assisted more than 13,000 patients. I believe cancer-help should be accessible and affordable for all, so have extended my strategies and results into an eBook format.
This eBook will take a unique place in the often confusing, sometimes dangerous and busy world of ‘cancer cures’.
From the ‘One-minute Cure for all Cancers’ now virally sweeping the internet; to the meditation and vegan diet cures cancer approaches, parasite theories and everything in-between, ‘Conquering Cancer -Survivors Secrets’ brings a refreshingly practical approach.

This eBook is distilled from 35 years of qualified experience as an herbalist, natural therapist, cancer support and supportive care consultant for more than 13,000 patients. My life experience as 24/7 caregiver for a critically ill cancer patients as well as becoming a patient with my own set of life challenging crises for a 13 year period; has provided me with invaluable insights into the mechanisms of healing and recovery.
Above all, my patients have been my greatest teachers. I have listened to their plights and observed them chasing their healing like mice in a wheel – influenced by the next Guru or latest ‘cancer cure flavour of the month’. Then one day they stop running, and from ‘human-doings’ they transformed into ‘human-beings’ wondering why they took the path of getting stressed while trying to de-stress!
This eBook, ‘Conquering Cancer’ provides a map and a compass to assist you on the road less travelled… giving you tools to create your restoration program, step by step in an easeful manner.
Order eBook now at: http://www.gracegawler.com/data/Menu/shop_secured.html

See SBS Documentary-‘Don’t Grow Old’ watch this relevant and excellent documentary online…
http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/program/dontgrowold/index

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