I encourage everyone to watch the new to DVD (and video, I presume) film, "What the Bleep Do We Know." It has some extremely interesting information on cellular functioning, especially that of receptors. When combined with a reading of the last few chapters in Dr. Andrew Weil's excellent book, "Health and Healing," it paints a promising picture for the very strong potential role of belief and attitude in the healing process.

It pains me to see people worrying so about this disease when that only empowers it (validated by empirical evidence). Instead, I'd like to see folks focus on who they really are and how they can tap into their natural gifts and talents and manifest them. You can't be productive and worried at the same time. Well, maybe you can but it's a whole lot harder!

I don't mean to sound preachy here or like some kind of know-it-all, I'd just really like to see people feeling more positive and empowered and able to help create a positive energy field that can benefit us all. This is not just new age airy fairy stuff, as this DVD should help make clear. There's much hard scientific research and thought behind it, in addition to all the dietary and available alt med treatments. It's the megatheory behind those specifics that I'm thinking about. There really is hope but much of it requires, I believe, a paradigm shift in thinking. Maybe this is the silver lining to an apparent dark cloud???

Any questions, just e-mail me and I'll share whatever I can. (Am taking alt medicine and cognitive/affective psych courses for my doctorate and am learning some very useful info I'm more than happy to share with anyone who feels it might be helpful.)

sachet m at verizon dot net (just translate--no space between sachet and m. Got to keep those nasty software spiders at bay!)

Hi there,

Thank you for putting that out there. I think there is a strong mind/body connection. I would be interested to see what supplements you are taking and in what combination with traditional medecines. Please email me at saxenachetana@yahoo.com. Have you been to cancer treatment centers of america. Is it worth a trip to Chicago after you traditional treatment to see what else they can do?

Thanks,
Anne

Fontaine,
where can we get this video/dvd? I would love to watch it!

I totally agree with this. A positive mental attitude helps out your immune system. The will to live is a powerful force. You need to laugh every day and take good care of yourself. It's ironic that every day when I walk from my car to the office I have to walk through the Cancer Survivor's Walk and the first plaque says "Keep a positive mental attitude" It's a beautiful flower and sculpture garden. When I was first diagnosed my onc told me he's seen people with little cancers not make it and people with big cancers survive. I have a big cancer and I'm still here 2 and 1/2 years later.

Hey Cindy H -
Bet that trip to Paris wasn't exactly a morale buster either! Great to chat while we were both over there, tho. Just so much to see and do, that we had NO time to even think about dealing with a life-threatening disease.
My legs got tired after the second day of walking and doing stairs in the subway - ugh! - some long ones.
So, now I am back home and will have my herceptin this afternoon.
So glad the weather was decent for our mental health break in France!

I have a role model for sticking things out when the "worst" is a possibility. My hubby's aunt survived over 2.5 years in an internment camp under the Japenese near Shanghai, China during WW II. She had a spirit that was amazing, and overcame so much in her life. She just made the best of whatever situation she was placed in. After surgery for an ulcerated bowel she had a sign in her kitchen that said, "I, Moosa, am getting better and better each and every day." And she did - even when the surgeon only gave her about a 20% chance to recover.
She always called me "Sunshine" and this had the efect of makeing ME feel better even when I was tired or down about something.

This was Positive Affirmation before it became a "thing."

Hi Steph, welcome back! Sorry we couldn't meet for lunch, but we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower that day. It was good talking to you, too. The stairs in the subway are something else! No wonder the french stay so trim.

I got my copy at Target but you should be able to get it online just as easily--from Amazon.com or someplace maybe even cheaper. I imagine it's also available from Blockbuster and that other mail DVD service (for the life of me, can't remember the name). It really is a wonderful film. They also have a terrific website at http://www.whatthebleep.com with message boards to help create "study groups" for follow-up to the ideas presented in the film. I'm sure the website contains some links to places you can find the DVD.

Wouldn't it be nice if some good filmmaker (and while the script/story may be on the weak side [I'm also an amateur screenwriter and my dissertation will be on brain scanning during storytelling--visual, oral, and written so am a hopeless critic of film stories], the production values are fabulous) would do a similar film on breast cancer--to open the doors to empowerment of those facing it? (How do you like that for a convoluted sentence?) Oh, no, I may just have given myself a new project--to convince some good filmmaker to do it! ;-)

If enough members here are interested, maybe the site owners here (I'm too new to know who's who yet) might be willing to set up a new forum for it? I know I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I really do want to see a place for breast cancer patients that stresses empowerment through not just information but a positive and productive realignment in thinking. There's just too much evidence (hard as well as soft) that shows that perspective, attitude, and belief can make an enormous impact on both the progession (or lack thereof) of cancer as well as quality of life.

That is wonderful, Cindy, that you've had that "coincidence" as a daily reminder of who you really are! But then I'm not so sure that what we consider coincidences really are, on a deeper level.

I'm also amazed that you are still able to work. But maybe people say that about me and taking three doctoral courses. Going to work would have me a physical and emotional wreck but school is really helping me stay positive. I suppose its a testament to the incredible variety of life!

I'm so glad to hear you're doing well and expect that will continue. Might I also recommend reading Dr. Andrew Weil's book, "Health and Healing?" His last few chapters are especially enlightening when it comes to the "big picture"--if you're the reader/researcher type, which most folks on this site seem to be.

If you watch the video, I'd love to hear your reaction to it!

Oh, my goodness, Steph, my friend just set up a trip for both of us to Paris over next New Year's. Quel coincidence! I had the great fortunate to work over there back in the the late 70s but haven't had a chance to get back since.

I love your post... i go eastern-western-back to eastern... How do we get the cd. I am glad you are doing well. Hollis

Response to Hollis -- I got mine at Target (DVD) and have also seen it on Amazon.com for the same price I paid at Target ($20.99, I think).

Lucky woman, Fontaine -
To see the "feu artifice," as the French call fireworks, in person shooting off the Eiffel Tower will be one inforgettable night.
With your name - you should not miss a trip out to see Fountainbleau - it is really a beautiful place and not as large as Versailles.

We actually only spent three days of our trip time in Paris as there is so much to see out in the French countryside - history at every turn!