A lady with bilateral breast cancer, who was going for removal of both breasts was referred to me. In her early forties, not having had children and so much wanting to, and facing the prospect of never having the opportunity, especially if she accepted the recommendation of post-operative long-term chemotherapy. She had tried to be at peace with this, but she was in a state of conflict and fear.
It is always a wonder to me that we can literally go and “speak” to our bodies, ask questions and get answers. It seems logical in a way to be able to do this – go to the expert!
In a Journey process she was able to go to the cancer sites, and discover a younger self that had brought into her life the belief that she was “not good enough”, causing her to judge herself harshly for 30-odd years. Climbing the unclimbable glass mountain. In the process she was able to get to meet the younger self, resolve the relevant issues, forgive her, and love and accept her. She was able to address the cancer, find out what it represented in her life, and resolve to learn from that and get back to being who she really is, and not who she was trying to make herself into. It is and always was – a nurturing issue.
At the end of the process she was at peace with herself and her decision to go ahead with surgery. The old belief of not being good enough was dropped entirely, and replaced with a new healthy sense of who she really is.
This kind of attention is perhaps what every person facing major surgery should get. How often do we just inform patients, give them all the information we can, and neglect their feelings, their terror? They come from their hearts, we come from our heads. How often do we fast-track people into some kind of intervention because of a perceived medical imperative, and neglect to take care of the whole person? Either because we are unaware, are time-short, or simply don’t have the right tools to do it. We can be kind, empathetic, supportive – is that enough?
I know of surgeons who pray for their patient whilst operating, they talk to the body while they are operating – this is great. Playing music in theatre is a very good idea. What we need is a more systematised total approach to pre-operative care, so that the patient is in optimal condition before surgery.
