My Healing Journey
This morning I went to the first of four sessions of The Healing Journey, Introduction, run by an esteemed psychologist at Princess Margaret Hospital for cancer patients and caregivers. Its premise is that one can harness the mind in various ways to enable and encourage physical healing, and to enhance quality of life. The most compelling piece of information I got today is the results of a study done with 22 people who took the program ten years ago. All were terminally ill with metastatic cancer; all were given about a year to live. The study looked at the level of involvement in their own healing for each person, through the progam and other activities. All outlived their prognosis; the most involved lived much longer and two are still alive today. Sounds like a good bet to me.
As elsewhere, I also learned about what other people are facing, some of them inoperable or untreatable cancers, or cancer that has returned after years of remission. Once again, I count my blessings and come home to count the crocuses in my front garden.