The Working with Cancer© program offered by Cancer Care BC focuses on self-help. The following are but a sample of topics that are addressed during the program by Cancer Care BC presenters. You may want to contact Cancer Care BC for more information and answers to your questions.The Working with Cancer© program offered by Cancer Care BC focuses on self-help. The following are but a sample of topics that are addressed during the program by Cancer Care BC presenters. You may want to contact Cancer Care BC for more information and answers to your questions.

Living With Cancer

Step 1—Learn all you can about cancer

Learn what cancer is and what it is not. All too often cancer is still seen as a terminal disease. That is no longer true and, depending on the type of cancer you have and how far it has advanced, medical treatment, together with supplementary methods, can extend your life expectancy by many years.

Don’t let fear rule your life!

Step 2—Be informed about conventional, complementary, and alternative cancer treatments

Be informed about conventional, complementary, and alternative cancer treatments. If your doctor doesn’t “believe” in complementary treatments, get a second opinion from a doctor who does. Write your questions down before your visit and bring someone along to take notes for you.

Be sure to understand the difference between complementary (additional to conventional treatment) and alternative cancer treatments (those that replace conventional treatment). Never choose any of these without discussing it with your doctor as some could interfere with or negate your cancer treatment, and can cause serious side-effects.

Step 3—Learn self-help techniques such as:

  • Stress reduction
  • Visualization that can energize your self-healing,
  • Meditation and prayer to help you focus on positives
  • Exercises to help you take control of your life again.
  • Make healthy changes in your life style

Step 4—Reiki helps with:

  • Faster recovery from surgery and healing of radiation burns, and to relieve pain and the side effects of medical treatment such as nausea and vomiting, lack of appetite, sleeplessness, and weight loss.
  • Reiki helps substantially to relieve anxiety, depression, and fear, and creates a real sense of peace and well-being.

Step 5—Clinical hypnosis

Clinical hypnosis is an effective way of managing pain, nausea and vomiting, weightloss, and other side effects of cancer treatment.

Clinical hypnosis can help you to stop “bad habits” such as smoking, drug use, and excessive alcohol consumption.

Step 6—Find the triggers to your cancer.

My more than 15 years of working with persons with cancer have taught me that discovering and “defusing” the emotional charge of past trauma can make an enormous difference, not only in the quality of one’s life, but in slowing down or reversing the progression of the illness.

Step 7—About the meaning of life, death and dying, life after death.

Of course there are no absolute answers to such questions, but a carefully and lovingly guided exploration can lead to understandings and convictions that allow for great inner peace and contentment in the face of a very scary experience. These explorations are respectful of, and honour one’s religious and spiritual beliefs.

Discover what you want to live for. Situational reasons such as wanting to be present at the birth of a grand child or at the wedding of one of your children are not sufficient! What does count is best portrayed by the question, “What are your gifts, skills, and talents that you can give back to life after you have recovered?” The emphasis is on commitment to life — not bargaining for health.

Is there meaning in life? One Tibetan master described it as, “Life is a sacred opportunity to evolve and realize it’. It’s worth contemplating. Contemplating and finding real answers to these questions can be the turning point of your life, no matter how long or short it may turn out to be.

Step 8—About inner wisdom.

Hidden within yourself are all the wisdom and skills you need for your healing. The goal of Working with Cancer© is to activate and put this to work for your healing.

Consider the opening stanza of a famous poem by a 16th century monk:

There is nothing I can give you
Which you do not already have;
But there is much, very much that,
While I cannot give it, you can take.

~Fra. Giovanni, A.D. 1513

These eight steps toward self-empowerment are only a sampling of the cancer care possibilities that are available to you. The support and guidance you may need in this quest are here for you, and you will have the freedom to choose aspects of the cancer care program that are particularly meaningful for you.

I trust that you will find the motivation to start this journey today.