Believe me ... I know what it means to be the 'good' patient. The first time I was diagnosed with cancer I was so frightened that I became a passive sheep, willing to follow my medical master anywhere he led. I felt powerless and found myself constantly praying that everything 'they' did was successful. Lots of waiting ... wondering ... So I was certainly touched when Bailey from episode 2 of the Radical Remission Docuseries said with frustration: "I had done EVERYTHING that they told me to do ...."
You see ... when you are the 'good' patient .... when you do everything they tell you to do ... when you trust solely in your medical professionals ... and your cancer or chronic illness returns ... well, that's a bad, frustrating day, indeed. BUT .... it's also a beautiful gift.
For me, that was the day I took control of my health and my future. That was the day that I began to research and learn for myself what was possible. That was the day that I realized that my medical professionals didn't know what they didn't know. And that's ok. They have a deep understanding of one aspect of my disease. But it was up to me to learn everything else.
For Bailey, the journey of stage 4 melanoma with multiple recurrences was particularly daunting. Especially when her medical professional informs her that he had no further treatment available for her. A very young woman, still in college in fact, she had a long productive life ahead of her - and she was willing to fight for it. The lifestyle nutritional choices she made from that point on certainly saved her life - when modern medicine had nothing left to offer her.
I am hopeful that my readers will recognize the underlying theme of my writing ... of our events ... of my non-profit's name ... of this website: EMPOWERMENT. Yes, we rely on our physicians to do their part in our healing. But more importantly, we need to understand and accept that WE are just as important (if not more so) to the success of our healing journey.
At the end of the day, lifestyle factors either work against us or work in synergy with conventional treatment. I hope you will allow us to shepherd you into a new era of lifestyle choices that ultimately lead to a beautiful healing journey.