I Am With You

I have been invited to contribute to I Am with YOU: Love Letters to Cancer Patients. The book is in its final editing stages and should go to press pretty soon.

I am passionate about this because I have been living with cancer for almost 18 years now and have learned a lot about how to survive through periods of health and illness.

Cancer is not new in the Freedman family. My sister died of leukemia at the age of 27 and left two small boys for her husband to raise. He married my sister’s best friend.

My seven year old son had a Wilm’s tumor (a kidney cancer common in children) in 1976 and through the miracle of mind stories, he is still alive today. Mind stories are guided imagery sessions designed for children. He never had cancer again.

Both of my parents died of cancer as well as all my maternal and paternal aunts and uncles.

However, I never viewed my cancer as something predetermined by my genetic influences. In 1997, it was just something that happened because of causes and conditions that are impossible to enumerate or even to know.

So I took the road less traveled by and opted for a bladder sparing protocol that was suggested to me by my dear friend, Dr. Sara Huang – a leading radiation oncologist at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco. It made all the difference! The gold standard of bladder cancer treatment is to remove the bladder, prostate, and lymph nodes through a surgery called radical cystectomy.

By being my own advocate for health care, investigating alternatives with research on the internet and other sources, consulting with medical experts who understand Eastern and Western approaches, engaging my family and friends and attending support groups, taking massive doses of supplements and making life style changes, giving back to my community, and having a daily meditation practice, I have been able to have a great life, in spite of having muscle invasive bladder cancer two times. It is these Seven Principles of Mindfulness in Healing that I want to share with you and soon you will be able to read my book on these seven principles.

I wish you a mindful and speedy recovery from whatever ails you!

Do you know anyone with cancer? Chance are you do. What is their story?