Greg Anderson - The Triumphant Patient: Become an Exceptional Patient in the Face of Life-Threatening Illness

The Triumphant Patient

Becoming an Exceptional Patient in the Face of Life-Threatening Illness

Greg Anderson

TO

MY WIFE

LINDA

AND

OUR DAUGHTER

ERICA

Thank you for

your constant

love and support.

You, too, are

TRIUMPHANT!

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest gratitude to God for his gift to methe gift of lifeand for the unlimited blessings I receive in serving.

Thank you to all who so generously gave of their time, creativity, and love in making this dream a reality.

A special thank you to all the friends of the Cancer Conquerors Foundation. I am so grateful for your acceptance and support. I treasure you.

A very special thank you to the Thomas Nelson Communications familyRon Haynes for seeing the vision, Jane Jones for extraordinary editing, Bob Zaloba, Sara Fortenberry, and Pamela Clements for bringing the message to the world. I appreciate your professionalism, patience, and understanding.

Jane Jordan Browne, thank you for your enthusiasm. Governor and Mrs. George Leader, please accept my sincere gratitude for your constant encouragement and support. Carl Simonton, I am forever thankful that you pointed out the path. And Abigail Dear Abby Van Buren, my heartfelt appreciation for lifting my work from obscurity.

To all who seek to be triumphant and to the world, my love.

C ONTENTS

I NTRODUCTION

It was 1978 when my wife Bobbie and I started a group called Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECaP) to help people mobilize their full resources against their diseases. We sent out a hundred letters to patients. The letter suggested we could help them live better and longer through the techniques ECaP would teach them.

We expected hundreds of replies. We thought everyone who got a letter would tell several other cancer patients and bring them to the meeting. I began to get nervous about how to handle the crowd that would appear.

Twelve people showed up.

That was when I started to learn, firsthand, what patients are really like. I found there are three kinds.

In the middle of the spectrum of patients is the majority, about 60 to 70 percent. They are like actors auditioning for a part. They perform to satisfy their physicians. They act the way they think the doctors want them to act, hoping that then the doctors will do all the work and the medicine wont taste too bad.

About 15 to 20 percent of all patients unconsciously, or even consciously, wish to die. On some level they welcome cancer or another serious illness as a way to escape their problems.

At the other extreme are the 15 to 20 percent who are exceptional. The exceptional patients are not auditioning; theyre being themselves. They refuse to play the victim. They educate themselves and become specialists in their own care. They question their doctors because they want to understand their treatment and participate in it. They demand dignity, personhood, and control, no matter what the course of their diseases. And they grow from their experiences.

This book, The Triumphant Patient, is a tribute to that spirit. It inspires. It instructs. It gives hope. In that sense, it heals. This book is required reading for anyone interested in health enhancement and life enrichment. It can help you triumph over the adversities and afflictions we are all subject to.

Triumphant doesnt mean living forever, but it does mean living now.

Enjoy!

Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.

W HAT THIS BOOK CAN DO FOR YOU

This book is written to suggest that you have profound choices in life no matter what your circumstances. Love, peace, serenity, wellness on the highest level can be yours.

I do not doubt this. I have watched these choices transform hundreds of people. I have had the experience myself. Some will say these assertions lack scientific proof. And others will suggest they may work for some but cannot be implemented in their own lives. But I disagree.

In 1984 I was given thirty days to live. Lung cancer had metastasized through my lymph system. My doctor told me there was nothing more medical science could do. He suggested it would be wise to get my affairs in order to prepare for my death.

It was a frightening time. My initial reaction was uncontrolled fear that quickly became self-pity. I became sicker, weaker, filled with despair. The lowest point was those days when I lost all hope.

Entirely too many people are defeated by loss of hope. Just as I did, they say, There is nothing I can do. Despair, resignation, and passivity set in. It doesnt have to be that way. There is always room for much hope in life.

On the physical level, there is a limit to how much we can do to create our own wellness. Genetics, environment, even lifes bad breaks can add up to a difficult situation. But on the emotional and spiritual level, there is a triumphant outlook that can control, even co-create, our experiences of life. This level is without limits. And it is under our control, a matter of personal choice.

The concepts presented here are meant to be used in conjunction with the guidance and care of competent medical professionals. At no time do I suggest that these principles take the place of conventional medical care. Do not embark upon self-treatment of a serious illness without professional help.

There are a growing number of doctors who will form true partnerships with their patients. Find one. And use these ideas as part of a comprehensive wellness program.

Read this book with thought and care, and always with the question in mind, How can I apply this in my life? You will find this slim volume does not impose solutions. But it does suggest a radically different response to life. I hope you will allow its message to penetrate your thinking.

While the how-tos are included, I am hoping you will see much more than a group of techniques here. I want you to move a bit closer to understanding the truth about your ability to help in your healing on many levels. And I hope you will find the inspiration we all need when we make the commitment to walk the triumphant path.

Ive used a parable format because it allows intimate and compassionate communication, something I find missing in clinical discussions of this subject. And Ive devised the characters from composites of real people who have shared their experiences and feelings with me. Hopefully you will find in these characters the emotions you feel and will also find hope. If you are anything like me, you approach this subject with passion. Ive simply tried to share those thoughts and emotions with you. Know that you are not alone when you experience them. But also realize you can get those thoughts and emotions working for you, not against you.

This format communicates truth with strength, clarity, honesty, and simplicity. I believe the result is a book that can be read profitably without being painstakingly studied.

Most of all keep your hope alive. What you believe about your ability to respond to lifes circumstances, how you handle emotional conflicts, plus your personal decision to walk in the Light, all work together to make a huge difference in your experience of illness or disability, and of life.

Welcome to the world of the triumphant!

Greg Anderson

Fullerton, California

April 1992

Chapter 1

T HE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS

The woman was devastated.

Her doctor had just told her she had a life-threatening illness. He used the word terminal and said there was nothing more he could do.

You have perhaps a year, he said. I cant say for sure. Im sorry. Well do our best to make you comfortable.