love is health
Going to war10/3/2013 As many of you know, I elected to proceed with chemotherapy. This decision was tough, involving a lot of research, consultation, and introspection before arriving to this conclusion. Recognizing all the risks, and taking in as much information as possible, I see nothing is going to guarantee I will not have a recurrence or metastasis. However, there is a lot that I can do to prevent it. Prevention comes through acute and long term care. I have been reading a fantastic book that provided me insight to help me make this decision. The author, while visiting Tibet, asks the Tibetans he encounters if they would seek out Western or Eastern medicine. "I wondered what I would have done if I had been Tibetan and had fallen ill. Given the two parallel health systems, which one would I choose? While in Dharamsala, I put this question to everyone I worked with or had occasion to meet. I asked the minister of health, who had invited me there, and the Dalai Lama's brother, at whose home I stayed, and I asked the great lama physicians I was introduced to. I talked about it with ordinary people I encountered as I moved around the city on foot. I thought I was confronting them with a dilemma: Would they choose Western medicine - modern and effective - or their own ancient medicine, out of fondness for their tradition? Faced with the reality that I am addressing both an acute and chronic condition, I opted for chemotherapy to address the critical window of high recurrence likelihood. At the same time, Luke and I have made significant dietary changes to ensure I am addressing my "terrain" - my symbolic soil in which I allow cancer to cultivate or die. Little by little I am changing out my cosmetics, household chemicals, servingware. I am also giving deep consideration to the centrifugal forces that seem to keep me in perpetual motion, always chasing after something like my happiness depends on it. A lifestyle shift is needed.
So there you have it. I hope you never find yourself in similar shoes. However, should that time come, I'd be more than happy to provide you with information and resources to help you make the most informed decision you can. Our lives and livelihood are not to be taken lightly. Rather, they are to be taken into our own hands.
2 Comments
Vishous
10/3/2013 02:41:34 am
Love you Maria, Praying for you and thinking of you..
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Brandon Cotter
10/4/2013 02:56:14 am
I'm glad you opted for efficacy.
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