Tag: psychosocial support

The Grace Gawler Institute Launches the “Survive and Thrive Club”

The Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions 

Hello and Welcome: – The Survive and Thrive Club has been launched as a part of the my new Australian Charity –  The Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions – experts in survival strategies. Some already generous donors have helped with establishing the Grace Gawler Institute with the aim that we can create a truly charitable institution with low administration costs, small staff numbers & high service output utilising the lastest technology including a  “Cancer Cyber Center” that can provide low cost tools, information via eBooks, webinars, skype consultations , online courses and 2-3 day residential retreats. There are more exciting free broadcast plans in the pipeline.

It is the first step towards complementary and collaborative care that can be provided to needy. It has always been my belief that cancer patients should be able to receive exactly the same level of care – whether complementary or mainstream medicine, or a combination of both without the added burden of  being financially stressed as well as critically ill. Illness brings about tremendous suffering on all levels of existence and the ripple effect through family units is often a very sad consequence. I appreciate that when your life depends on finding cash in order to survive – it is a very stressful situation. The following recent publication short exerpt highlights the issues discussed on this blog

Financial Worries Top Psychosocial Concern of Cancer Patients – Elsevier Global Medical News. 2011 Feb 28, B Bates ANAHEIM, CALIF. (EGMN) – “Highlighting shifting priorities after the recession, nearly half of all recent psychosocial consultations with patients at a leading cancer center involved financial worries, rather than adjustment issues or other pressing mental health concerns…”

When I inspired and co founded the Gawler Foundation in the early 80’s, as a result of being Ian Gawler’s sole care-giver from 1974-1978; my vision was to raise funds from areas of society such as corporate Australia so that  continuity of services and longevity of the organisation could be assured while providing free services. If clients wish to pay for service or  make a donation towards services then it would automatically help others who were financially compromised and can’t pay for services. As organisations grow &  more people’s visions become involved- it becomes challenging  to hold to ideals. 

Grace Gawler
Me after life saving surgery 2000

However – although I resigned from the Gawler Foundation in 1996, I still hold to those ideals, in fact my passion has increased fuelled no doubt by my own experience. Since 1997 I have been through 20 surgical procedures myself over a 13 year period and having to relocate geographically 14 times including overseas for one year. My debt levels to survive were and are still enormous. With teenage children in my care for some of that time including a son with special needs. My situation is unfortunately far too common.

 I feel I have been at the coalface over cancer care as a care-giver, service provider to more than 13,000 patients during my career then a patient. It was not cancer in my case – but severe complications from a hysterectomy. Unable to use my bowels – the results were very similar to a cancer patient’s experience. My situation was life threatening many times and I am now minus 5 ft of large colon and 5 ft of small bowel due to nerve damage and impaction. 2002 – 2003 I had an experimental procedure for a bionic colon – it was a success and a world first procedure performed in Holland. I know a great deal about surviving and thriving and will share many of my tips via. Select the link below to join – its free – no obligation – cancel at at any time  The Survive and Thrive Club .

 The Survive and Thrive Club  offers cancer patients at all stages of their illness, the opportunity to source accurate, (real) evidence-based medicine and cancer information.

Its a Free Sign-up to receive regular newsletters with tips for:
Survival
Recovery strategies
Evidence-based research
Cancer nutrition & recipes
Notice of events, giveaways, competitions
And new Grace Gawler Products.

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCBqfFK5VIs]

Free sign up to
The Survive & Thrive Club

Gold Coast – Australia

The Grace Gawler Institute Launches the "Survive and Thrive Club"

The Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions 

Hello and Welcome: – The Survive and Thrive Club has been launched as a part of the my new Australian Charity –  The Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions – experts in survival strategies. Some already generous donors have helped with establishing the Grace Gawler Institute with the aim that we can create a truly charitable institution with low administration costs, small staff numbers & high service output utilising the lastest technology including a  “Cancer Cyber Center” that can provide low cost tools, information via eBooks, webinars, skype consultations , online courses and 2-3 day residential retreats. There are more exciting free broadcast plans in the pipeline.

It is the first step towards complementary and collaborative care that can be provided to needy. It has always been my belief that cancer patients should be able to receive exactly the same level of care – whether complementary or mainstream medicine, or a combination of both without the added burden of  being financially stressed as well as critically ill. Illness brings about tremendous suffering on all levels of existence and the ripple effect through family units is often a very sad consequence. I appreciate that when your life depends on finding cash in order to survive – it is a very stressful situation. The following recent publication short exerpt highlights the issues discussed on this blog

Financial Worries Top Psychosocial Concern of Cancer Patients – Elsevier Global Medical News. 2011 Feb 28, B Bates ANAHEIM, CALIF. (EGMN) – “Highlighting shifting priorities after the recession, nearly half of all recent psychosocial consultations with patients at a leading cancer center involved financial worries, rather than adjustment issues or other pressing mental health concerns…”

When I inspired and co founded the Gawler Foundation in the early 80’s, as a result of being Ian Gawler’s sole care-giver from 1974-1978; my vision was to raise funds from areas of society such as corporate Australia so that  continuity of services and longevity of the organisation could be assured while providing free services. If clients wish to pay for service or  make a donation towards services then it would automatically help others who were financially compromised and can’t pay for services. As organisations grow &  more people’s visions become involved- it becomes challenging  to hold to ideals. 

Grace Gawler
Me after life saving surgery 2000

However – although I resigned from the Gawler Foundation in 1996, I still hold to those ideals, in fact my passion has increased fuelled no doubt by my own experience. Since 1997 I have been through 20 surgical procedures myself over a 13 year period and having to relocate geographically 14 times including overseas for one year. My debt levels to survive were and are still enormous. With teenage children in my care for some of that time including a son with special needs. My situation is unfortunately far too common.

 I feel I have been at the coalface over cancer care as a care-giver, service provider to more than 13,000 patients during my career then a patient. It was not cancer in my case – but severe complications from a hysterectomy. Unable to use my bowels – the results were very similar to a cancer patient’s experience. My situation was life threatening many times and I am now minus 5 ft of large colon and 5 ft of small bowel due to nerve damage and impaction. 2002 – 2003 I had an experimental procedure for a bionic colon – it was a success and a world first procedure performed in Holland. I know a great deal about surviving and thriving and will share many of my tips via. Select the link below to join – its free – no obligation – cancel at at any time  The Survive and Thrive Club .

 The Survive and Thrive Club  offers cancer patients at all stages of their illness, the opportunity to source accurate, (real) evidence-based medicine and cancer information.

Its a Free Sign-up to receive regular newsletters with tips for:
Survival
Recovery strategies
Evidence-based research
Cancer nutrition & recipes
Notice of events, giveaways, competitions
And new Grace Gawler Products.

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCBqfFK5VIs]

Free sign up to
The Survive & Thrive Club

Gold Coast – Australia

Grace Gawler helps patients in the fight against cancer

Author Pip Cornall Director/ Public Officer –  The Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated Cancer Solutions talks about Grace Gawler’s approach to helping cancer patients…      www.gracegawler.com/institute

The great Samurai tradition of Japan contains lessons valuable to the fight against cancer. Grace Gawler

Samurai

encourages her patient’s to study and integrate the strategies used by the Samurai.

As in Samurai tradition – a Samurai needs role models who live the ethos – Luckily for her patients – Grace is a living example – one who lives the martial art – it has saved her life and aided those whose life she has touched.

  Its 6 am.
Grace is emailing the mother of a 27 year old daughter with liver cancer—her prognosis was poor before coming to see Grace. Medical options in Australia had been exhausted but following requests from the family, Grace has been in dialogue with cancer researchers in Europe and Asia on her behalf—the research is promising…in fact it has great possibilities for this brave young woman.
 I was reminded once again what a great fighter Grace is for her patients—like a Samurai she will not give up!

But it’s more—it is not blind persistence—her fight is intelligent, scientific and deeply grounded—a martial arts approach. She patiently works with patient and their family to build their inner core while getting to know the opponent—observe—wait for a weakness to appear—pounce—exploit the weakness—hit hard with accuracy.
Her weapons—a keen mind—focus—up to date knowledge from the best cancer centres in the world—impeccable timing—a belief that success will be attained—a belief so deeply ingrained it’s in her bones—her blood.

As she sits at her desk there’s a glint in her eye—she’s in battle for her patients—she is a Samurai. Grace has many successes on the board beginning as Samurai care giver to Ian Gawler—Australia’s most famous recovered cancer patient—‘experts’ and family had given him no chance. When her son was born deaf and with ‘challenges,’ specialists said—place him in a special care. She became a fierce Samurai mother…his progress a miracle by all accounts.
Grace adopted Samurai strategies during her own 13 year medical battle after a surgical ‘mishap’ caused her to lose most of her colon. Moving mountains, unsupported, she did what it took to become the world’s first bionic colon recipient in Holland in 2003. She’s been a Samurai cancer coach to 13,000 patients over the last three plus decades and is director of her new cancer solutions charity on the Gold Coast.
I’ve been Grace’s 24/7 colleague and close companion for 4 years. In that time, I’ve observed her high level dialogues with oncologists, pharmacologists and the world’s best surgeons and cancer specialists as she fights the Samurai fight for her patient’s best outcome. I have one simple desire… that that all cancer patients and their families have the opportunity and luck to access her Samurai services.

Patients who come to Grace invariably say they wished they’d known about her earlier. To make that happen, what is needed is widespread and massive publicity—will you help me spread the word? Like to know more about Samurai Strategies for Fighting Cancer – Contact www.gracegawler.com/institute  or
email institute@gracegawler.com

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

 

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

Grace Gawler’s Story – Grace, Grit and Gratitude – A Memoir

Appreciation –  Olivia Newton John – thank you for allowing me to use such apt and beautiful track for this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1ZYnDGIRI]

Grace, Grit and Gratitude is a story of courage and survival through repeated and horrendous adversity, my own life-threatening condition that required 20 surgical procedures, the effects of separtion/divorce when ill then coping with a teenage family and facing the prospect of imminent demise. I have also recorded in the book an accurate account of my shared time with Ian Gawler – when I was his prime 24/7 caregiver at the age of 21. 
At that time I had little awareness of how life would unfold and that I would become so intimately became involved in a very famous cancer recovery story. 

Caregivers: It is rather unfortunate that Ian has played down the care-givers role in his recovery…A few years ago one Abc radio interviewer Melbourne 774 introduced Ian as the man who single-handedly conquered cancer. I had hoped Ian would correct the statement – but he did not. Little media time is given to caregivers…. honest acknowledgement of the efforts and unseen (and often unspoken challenges) that caregivers experience. We are often invisibilised – but our contributions to humanity and care are essential in a community. When Ian was very ill – at his most critical point  – it was not diet or meditation or lifestyle that pulled him through his darkest night of the soul – but love, compassion, proactivity, faith, hope and belief of his caregiver.

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s Dr Ainslie Meares praised Grace Gawler for her part in helping her husband to live. He said, “The support he had from her first as his girlfriend and later as his wife, has been very remarkable. She is very sensitive to his needs and feelings and has spent hours and hours massaging him and helping him with his meditation.”
Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

More than 3 decades have passed since Ian Gawler was told he was clear of cancer. We were together for 23 years –  had 4 children during that time, co founded the Gawler Foundation and created the Yarra Valley Living Centre. In 1997 Ian left the family, we then divorced and he later married Dr Ruth Gawler  – a GP who now works at the Gawler foundation and assists Ian with his private seminar and merchandising company. Ian retired this year.
Our story that led to Ian’s recovery was complex and once it had been made public we carried the extra responsibility of making sure that it was told accurately and truthfully. As Dr Linda Calbresi from The Australian Doctor magazine recently wrote: ‘ we had
Recently the Australian  published an article based on a refute letter that I had written to the Medical Journal of Australia after belatedly coming across a rewrite of Ian’s story in that journal…a version that was full of clinical time-line errors, non factual material and some serious omissions. The MJA published this version December 11 2008 under the banner of “True Stories” and although the patient was not named in the article, it was clearly Ian. It was a  former patient that alerted me to the story after she had seen it reproduced on the Gawler Foundation’s website…she was sure that some of the information was not correct especially the reference to Ian having strictly adhered to a vegan diet. As a recovered patient herself who had attended our earlier programs – she was surprised to read this because she Little did she know that this error was just the tip of the iceberg.

References:

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/first-wife-disputes-cancer-guru-ian-gawlers-survival-story/story-e6frg8y6-1225935666765

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
Authors: Dr Ruth Gawler & Prof George Jelinek

Source: 

 http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s

Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

Grace Gawler's Story – Grace, Grit and Gratitude – A Memoir

Appreciation –  Olivia Newton John – thank you for allowing me to use such apt and beautiful track for this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1ZYnDGIRI]

Grace, Grit and Gratitude is a story of courage and survival through repeated and horrendous adversity, my own life-threatening condition that required 20 surgical procedures, the effects of separtion/divorce when ill then coping with a teenage family and facing the prospect of imminent demise. I have also recorded in the book an accurate account of my shared time with Ian Gawler – when I was his prime 24/7 caregiver at the age of 21. 
At that time I had little awareness of how life would unfold and that I would become so intimately became involved in a very famous cancer recovery story. 

Caregivers: It is rather unfortunate that Ian has played down the care-givers role in his recovery…A few years ago one Abc radio interviewer Melbourne 774 introduced Ian as the man who single-handedly conquered cancer. I had hoped Ian would correct the statement – but he did not. Little media time is given to caregivers…. honest acknowledgement of the efforts and unseen (and often unspoken challenges) that caregivers experience. We are often invisibilised – but our contributions to humanity and care are essential in a community. When Ian was very ill – at his most critical point  – it was not diet or meditation or lifestyle that pulled him through his darkest night of the soul – but love, compassion, proactivity, faith, hope and belief of his caregiver.

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s Dr Ainslie Meares praised Grace Gawler for her part in helping her husband to live. He said, “The support he had from her first as his girlfriend and later as his wife, has been very remarkable. She is very sensitive to his needs and feelings and has spent hours and hours massaging him and helping him with his meditation.”
Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

More than 3 decades have passed since Ian Gawler was told he was clear of cancer. We were together for 23 years –  had 4 children during that time, co founded the Gawler Foundation and created the Yarra Valley Living Centre. In 1997 Ian left the family, we then divorced and he later married Dr Ruth Gawler  – a GP who now works at the Gawler foundation and assists Ian with his private seminar and merchandising company. Ian retired this year.
Our story that led to Ian’s recovery was complex and once it had been made public we carried the extra responsibility of making sure that it was told accurately and truthfully. As Dr Linda Calbresi from The Australian Doctor magazine recently wrote: ‘ we had
Recently the Australian  published an article based on a refute letter that I had written to the Medical Journal of Australia after belatedly coming across a rewrite of Ian’s story in that journal…a version that was full of clinical time-line errors, non factual material and some serious omissions. The MJA published this version December 11 2008 under the banner of “True Stories” and although the patient was not named in the article, it was clearly Ian. It was a  former patient that alerted me to the story after she had seen it reproduced on the Gawler Foundation’s website…she was sure that some of the information was not correct especially the reference to Ian having strictly adhered to a vegan diet. As a recovered patient herself who had attended our earlier programs – she was surprised to read this because she Little did she know that this error was just the tip of the iceberg.

References:

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/first-wife-disputes-cancer-guru-ian-gawlers-survival-story/story-e6frg8y6-1225935666765

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
Authors: Dr Ruth Gawler & Prof George Jelinek

Source: 

 http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s

Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

The Gawler Foundation Conference Opportunity to Discuss Flawed MJA Report

Visit www.gracegawler.com or http://gracegawler.com/Institute/
The Gawler Foundation Conference An opportunity to explain MJA errors

The Gawler Foundation’s annual conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel Melbourne this weekend November 12 and 13.  I trust that this could be an opportunity for speakers such as Professor Ian Olver from the Cancer Council and the MJA article’s authors, to discuss and disclose to the public, health professionals and the cancer community, why such significant errors in the timelines and photographs relating to Ian Gawler’s cancer recovery were altered and published in Australia’s most prestigious journals – the Medical Journal of Australia. Read more at…http://gracegawlermedia.wordpress.com/

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