What you have read in this book is probably different from anything you have ever believed about your body and its functions. My hope is that, on some level at least, parts of it make some sense to you. I can assure you everything in this book has been suggested by some test or research somewhere. See if you can't say to yourself that you are willing to try each suggestion, if for no other reason than you don't see how it can do any harm. Then try, try the whole thing by trying every little detail. Only after you have tried something, do you have the right to say with authority that it is not for you.
Maybe some ideas don't work too well on their own, but when done in conjunction with something else, you have a winner. And isn't that what it is all about - having a winner? Does it really make that much difference how you get there? If you do everything and you get well, then and only then can you afford the luxury of looking back and trying to decide which factors were influential in your recovery.
This book would not be complete without at least a mention of luck. It is one of the five factors to which I attribute my cure. The fact that my tumor formed around a nerve in my shoulder and hurt so much, forcing me back to physicians repeatedly, in spite of assurances that it was not cancer, was luck, pure and simple. Of course, I could look at the negative side of things and say that finding the first two doctors who wrongly diagnosed it was "bad luck" because it stole precious time. What would that get me? It would make me nervous and upset, wasting valuable energy thinking negative thoughts. Concentrate on the positive and get on in your fight against cancer.
If the grass is greener on the other side of the street, is that truly luck? Or did our neighbor do all those little things that we thought were too unpleasant or didn't matter that much. The harder you work, the luckier you get. If you want to have good luck in getting rid of your cancer, apply yourself and work for it. Nothing worthwhile comes easily.
A young woman called, telling me her mother was dying of cancer, refusing all medical treatments and even denying that she had cancer. Her father would not discuss it with anyone. But this young woman said she knew her mother would make it because she believed a miracle would happen. It was my opinion that miracles or luck don't just happen, you have to make them happen. It is hard work that will give her mother a chance. She must find competent psychological assistance to convince her mother of the problem and to do everything in her power to overcome it, and then maybe a miracle is possible.
The purpose of this is not to instill guilt in anyone. Everyone cannot beat cancer, no matter how hard they try. In trying to bring about your own luck, you are kept busy working which, in itself, provides you a better quality of life, and maybe you can succeed.
Harold Benjamin, founder of the Wellness Community stated in the Los Angeles Times, "Listen, when I first started the Wellness group, everybody said, 'Don't give them false hope,' and for a while I really gave that some credence. But you know what? There's no such thing as false hope. If we told them, 'If you do certain things, you'll get better, guaranteed,' that would be either stupidity or fraud. But if 1 out of 500 people get well, is it unreasonable to hope you'll be that one person? Not to me it isn't."
"Hope is an essential part of the will to live," states Dr. Ernest Rosenbaum in his book, "Living with Cancer". "Hope can be maintained as long as there is even a remote chance for survival. It is kindled and nurtured by even minor improvements and is maintained when crises or reversals persist by the positive attitudes of family, friends, and the health support team. Primarily, though, hope will come from within you, if you are willing to do everything you can do to improve your health and if you are willing to fight for your life."
Dr. Lewis Thomas, chancelor of Memorial Sloan-Kettering states, "From time to time patients turn up with advanced cancer, beyond possibility of cure...the patient is sent home to die, only to turn up again ten years later free of disease and in good health. There are now several hundred such cases in world scientific literature, and no one doubts the validity of the observations."
At the dedication of the R.A. Bloch International Cancer Information Center in Bethesda, Md. in 1983, I stated, "Having been told I was terminal from lung cancer and subsequently cured by top physicians, I as much as anyone appreciate the fact that it is doctors and knowledge that cure cancer, not brick and mortar. Over one half of the cases of cancer that were untreatable when a young doctor completed medical school only 10 years ago are today curable to some degree. Tremendous strides are being made continuously in the treatment of various types of cancer. It is obvious that some people are dying, not because there is no treatment for their cancer, but because their doctor is unaware of the latest and best treatments. It is Annette's and my hope that this building will be the catalyst to disseminating state-of-the-art information to the physicians of the world to enable them to improve the quality and quantity of life for every cancer patient."
Being told you have cancer is like being hit by a truck. In a few seconds, the course of your life is altered. Shock! Fear! Guilt! Anger! Bewilderment! These are reactions of many cancer patients when told they have cancer. You should do everything possible to maximize your chances of beating cancer. Following are a few suggestions:
Not minimizing the pain, stress and fear that accompany cancer and its treatment, it is a fact that everything does not necessarily have to be negative. It is possible that through this illness you can learn to live a better and fuller life.
Dr. Lewis Thomas, chancelor of Memorial Sloan-Kettering, foresees "the end of cancer before the century is over. It could begin to fall into place at any time, starting next year, or even next week."