Dear Dr. G.,
I respect your medical education, training and years of experience as a gynecologist. I have always felt you were on top of your game…within the western medicine model.
I began to suspect that you were not open to alternative medicine practices when you scoffed at my ability to navigate the changes of menopause on my own such as hot flashes without hormone replacements because I sought natural treatment of herbs and needles from my acupuncturist. When I came in for annual exams, you appeared to assume I would finally give up on my own remedies and move into the treatments you suggested and promoted.
In June of 2014, my annual exam and subsequent in-office biopsy showed “Severe squamous dysplasia/carcinoma in SITU.” You told me I would need outpatient surgery and removal of part of my cervix with more biopsies, I agreed. I asked you what I should do in the two weeks while waiting for surgery, and you said, “nothing”. Well, I did everything I could think of and wrote extensively about it. Click here for previous blog post.
When I did what you said was impossible to do in only 2 weeks and then had no interest in knowing what I did, I was disappointed to say the least. I began to search for books written by physicians who were interested in miracles and spontaneous healing events.
Two books I found were Love, Medicine & Miracles: Lessons Learned About Self-Healing From A Surgeon’s Experience With Exceptional Patients by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D. and Spontaneous Healing: How To Discover And Enhance Your Body’s Natural Ability To Maintain and Heal Itself by Andrew Weil, M.D. Both these doctors were willing to look at unusual cases of healing.
Dr. Siegel shares, “Exceptional patients manifest the will to live in its most potent form. They take charge of their lives even if they were never able to before, and they work hard to achieve health and peace of mind. They do not rely on doctors to take the initiative but rather use them as members of a team, demanding the utmost in technique, resourcefulness, concern, and open mindedness.”
He also says that, “exceptional patients also are loving, and thus understand the difficulties a physician faces.”
Dr. Siegel mentions that if a person gets well on their own, doctors assume there was an error (Dr. G, you told me you consulted other doctors and thought perhaps you made a mistake in surgery by not removing the right area) and finally, you seemed to write me off as some sort of freak case that you just could not wrap your mind around to understand.
Dr. Siegel says that in his experience only 15-20 percent of patients are exceptional. They refuse to be victims and are invested in educating themselves and becoming specialists in their own situation and care.
Dr. Weil wrote his book with the premise that the body can heal itself and has a remarkable healing system. He then discusses diet, protecting yourself from toxins, using tonics, activity and rest, and discusses the mind and spirit.
Both books validated my feelings and experience although I did not read them until after my health scare had passed.
Dr. G, the reason I am writing you is because I hope you will be open to knowing what I did to return my body to a place where you could find no cancer cells from the tissues you removed in my surgery. Your services and abilities as a surgeon are needed, but what if some of the things I did could also help your patients? There are no promises as each person and their health and history are unique. Would you be able to let them know there are things to try while waiting for surgery or during treatment that might help? Let’s join together and empower others to look at the possibilities. Let’s combine our knowledge and experience to inspire others to take charge of aspects of their lifestyle that might need to be changed to provide a better climate for healing and health.
I look forward to the future with optimism that we can make a difference in the lives of others and create a spark that gives hope to those who might be scared. Will you please look at my article and the recommended books I have listed here? Thank you for considering it Dr. G.
Are there others out there who might also be open to these suggestions? I welcome your thoughts and comments below!
