100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (52 page)

worked by chemo) and could work on getting my energy level up, which

was one of my other complaints.

He instructed me to be very kind to my body while it was going through

the chemo treatment and to try to eat cooked, soft, simple foods instead of

raw to help my digestion and help my body retain the energy I needed to

get through the next few weeks.

So far, he made a lot of sense to me.

He asked me to change into a cloth robe and he left the room. When I

was ready, I was made comfortable on a soft table with pillows under my

head and knees. David proceeded to insert a series of needles in my arms,

head, legs, and stomach. Nothing was inserted in my back.

A bit about the needles:

●
They are not sharp; they are rounded on the ends.

●
They are hairlike in thickness; thinner than the smallest injection needles.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

●
They are single use—that is, they are discarded after each use and each

person gets clean needles.

●
There is NO blood.

●
It does not hurt at all—in fact, I didn’t feel a thing.

Once the needles were inserted, the lights were dimmed, some mild soft

incense was burned, and a relaxing tape of gentle music was played. There

I stayed for about thirty minutes while I “cleared my channels.” This was

probably the most relaxing thirty minutes I had experienced since my cancer

diagnosis. I was in no pain, I was comfortable, and it was extremely pleasant

and calming!

After thirty minutes, David came back and removed the needles, and I

got dressed. The whole visit took about sixty minutes.

The Results

After the treatment, David asked me how I felt, and I told him, “Great!”

“How many treatments will I need before I feel like eating again?” I

asked him.

“How long does it take you to get home?”

“About an hour . . . wait . . . what?” I was amazed, and a bit skeptical.

“How often do I need to come back?” I asked. I really expected him to say

something like “three times a week for the next ten weeks,” but he said it

was really up to me.

He suggested two more treatments over the next four weeks, but only if

I felt I needed it. He didn’t try to sell me anything (that was my other con-

cern), and he actually said that he does not sell products out of the office,

but he could tell me what to buy if I needed something and I could find

the best price on my own. He also showed me the pressure point for nausea

(about two inches up from my wrist on the inside of my arm in the center)

and told me I could just press on this point if I felt any nausea coming on.

The cost of my initial visit was $150. Subsequent visits would be $100.

So off I went home. It took about an hour to get there.

When I got home I saw a can of vegetable soup in the pantry . . . I made

it . . . and I ate it . . . along with two pieces of brown bread . . . and a little

Perk #53: Cancer Cured Me of My Needle/Blood Phobia

213

piece of dark chocolate. I was amazed and thrilled! I really couldn’t believe

it! My appetite was better!

I did end up going back to help with the liver clearance and to get a bit

more energy. Although I couldn’t “feel” my liver being cleared, I did feel a

bit more energy and, since I was able to eat a little more, that helped my

energy, too.

I have recommended acupuncture to a lot of my

Trying unconventional

friends going through chemo. I have also heard of great

treatments during and

results from people who tried it for chronic back pain and

after treatment can open

migraines. I asked about weight loss, and David said he

up a new way of thinking

really hasn’t seen great results with using acupuncture

and help you feel better

alone for that. He also said acupuncture is not a cure-all.

at the same time.

It is one aspect in a person’s health along with proper,

healthy diet, exercise, and meditation.

Some skeptics told me it worked on me because of the power of sug-

gestion. I don’t think so, because it has been shown to work on animals

and babies—so there goes that theory.

Aside from having to pay out-of-pocket for treatment, acupuncture has

no “downside.” While I didn’t end up tossing my nausea medication, I loved

the fact that my nausea was controlled without the use of (yet) more pills.

I also was able to gain a lot of knowledge from David about diet and general

health from a different perspective.

Perk #54

Cancer Made Me

Value Every Birthday

O
ne thing cancer has done for me is

make me really appreciate my birth-

days! Never again will I complain about

getting older, and these lines and wrin-

kles . . . I have earned every one.

While many women dread the big

“Five-OH,” I am sure it will be one of the

happiest of my life. God willing, it will

make me one of the just over 50 percent

of stage-3 breast cancer patients who

survives to the five-year mark. But I don’t

want to just stop at fifty! My greatest

wish is to follow in my grandmother’s

footsteps. Nan Kearney, my namesake, is

ninety-two years old. She lives on her own and is completely independent.

She still gardens and cooks for herself every day. She is a great storyteller

and has a memory that would put most twenty-year-olds to shame.

Nan raised twelve children over the years and has held more than fifty

grandchildren and great-grandchildren. While I lose track of my growing

family of cousins, she can call every one of them by name. So when I was

blowing out my forty-five candles just days after losing my breast, I gave

up on my usual wish (in case you are wondering, that would be a red, con-

vertible Volkswagen Beetle). Instead, I wished to live long enough to see

my children raised and to someday hold my own grandchildren.

Treasure every birthday, every day, and every breath. Party on!

I 214 J

Perk #54: Cancer Made Me Value Every Birthday

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HEALTH TIP #54

Forget the Toga Party . . . Have a Yoga Party

I
n the eighties, while Jane Fonda introduced us to aerobic workouts and

striped leg warmers, a small group of “yoginis” were teaching an ancient

form of exercise called yoga. Taken from Hindu culture and philosophy, and

spanning back over five thousand years, yoga is a series of physical, mental,

and spiritual exercises aimed at helping one to achieve a goal of health and

happiness. There are many different types of yoga, but the one practiced

most often here in the West is called Hatha yoga. Forty years ago, yoga might

have been viewed as a “cult” or “fringe” activity, and, even if you wanted to

practice it, classes and teachers were few and far between.

Luckily, with increased, widespread interest and increasing proof of the

benefits of yoga (because we Westerners need proof, dammit), a growing

number of people of all ages are engaging in this healthy practice and are

enjoying significant benefits for their mind, body, and spirit. Just in the last

ten years, the number of people practicing some form of yoga grew from 4

million to 20 million in the United States alone!

Practicing yoga can help you build a strong, well-toned body and a

peaceful, balanced mind and also helps to deepen your spirituality regard-

less of your religious beliefs. Yoga sessions consist of a combination of

breathing and relaxation exercises along with performing a series of poses.

Some of them are as simple as just standing with your feet together as tall

as you can. This pose is called “mountain pose.” The poses are focused at

building strength but are also meant to bring a better awareness of the con-

nection between your body and your mind. The gentle flow as you move

from one pose to the next helps your muscles to become strong and your

joints to become active, and it also helps your internal organs to perform

better.

An increasing number of people are turning to yoga as a way to help

with the effects of cancer treatments and other illnesses. The proof is

undeniable. Study after study proves that yoga helps to alter chemicals

within the body that have a positive effect on anxiety, depression, and