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How A Woman Managed Breast Cancer Head-On
3000 days of pain and worry
More than 15 years ago a lady called me up and wanted to know addresses of colleagues of mine, teachers of the AlexanderTechnique and Feldenkrais practitioners in the area of St. Gallen, where, at the time, I was running my practice. Actually, because of life circumstances I lived 3 hours away. So I gladly provided the information, named all my colleagues in the area and hoped to never hear from her again.
For a very simple reason: I didn’t want to leave home as it would have taken me 3 hs of travel to meet her.
Sure enough, a week later I got a call from that lady again and she requested to have a lesson with me.
In the past I have learnt my lesson that I better say: “Oh yes, I’d love to” when someone wants to work with me. So I said “Oh yes, I’d love to. How can we make this work?” and we made an appointment to meet in the days that followed. Actually she was in Switzerland because of the treatment of a health condition that she did not explain any further. But she stated that she wanted to have some different kind of support for herself besides the clinical treatment she was undergoing in the Paracelsus Clinic near St. Gallen.
So we met, we worked together, and obviously she was pleased with what we achieved, because she made further appointments during her time in St. Gallen.
via London to San Francisco
Weeks later she left. On her way back from Switzerland she visited a friend, Eugene Cash, a meditation teacher from San Francisco who is in the same meditation tradition as Jon Kabat Zinn.
London
At the time he was living in London. And as he knew about her health condition, he asked: How is your health? He was concerned that her condition was deteriorating and maintained: You cannot continue the same way, you have to make changes. And with her consent he contacted the University of California San Francisco UCSF CAM-department of complementary and alternative medicine. So she went there, got into the hands of good and good-hearted MDs, namely Dr. Ellen Hughes, MD, Phd, at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF who brought her to one of the leading oncologists of UCSF. The diagnosis was Paget disease of the breast (also known as Paget disease of the nipple or mammary Paget disease), which is a rare type of cancer involving the skin of the nipple and, usually, the darker circle of skin around it, which is called the areola.
The kind but firm recommendation was that the removal of her breast was the necessary next step, as they really wanted to save her life.
She was even offered a place in a cancer research program, where they would make the necessary operation and medical care free of charge for her, as she did not have a health insurance at the time.
But she decided to postpone the surgery.
Sorting ideas long distance
She contacted me again and inquired about the possibility of continuing lessons with me even if it were “only” via Skype.
Even though I have never done teaching long distance previously, as she nicely insisted, I decided to explore the possibility. For the next years we continued studying together the Work of F.M. Alexander. I could help her with movement difficulties of her wrist and could help her sort other ideas about movement performance which in turn helped her with issues of overwhelm and confusion in her day-to-day.. She also got more resilient managing contradictory pressures of treatment demands from conventional and alternative medicine. In time we got to know and trust each other a little more. It became clear over time that since 1999, for the past 6 years, she was struggling with mammary cancer, having to decide on the recommended mastectomy i.e. removal of her right breast or finding alternative treatment pathways to save her from removal of her right breast and recover her health.
Actually she used our work together for her health, and thus my task became clearer:
to cultivate health coaching and learn much more.
Convinced but not convincing…
Ada confided to me that she had met good doctors and good people, but also others. The reason why she postponed surgery time and again was always the same, and not stubbornness – though I would like to add, if it would have been me in her place, I’d have given in some time along the way already when knowledgeable people, experts, talk to me in a tone f voice that is authoritative and the expert seems so convinced … .
But that exactly was the point: they were convinced, but not convincing. Ada had always held the position that she would accept surgery as a means, when the doctors could give her a reasonable explanation for removing her breast. And apparently she had a high respect for her body that those doctors did not share in the same way.
Though the pressure for Ada was mounting, as the situation of her health had turned more and more precarious. By now she had developed an advanced stage 3 breast cancer, and she already had lived most of the years since her first diagnosis in 1999 under immense pressure:
In 1999 two of her close friends had also been diagnosed with breast cancer; one chose conventional treatment and died within 12 months in 2000, the other chose an alternative treatment plan and died two years later.
Two additional painful years
Eventually she went back home to where she lived and continued with her daily salt baths (i.e. the daily swims in the ocean) to keep the oozing wound disinfected and support healing as much as she understood while paying tons of money to alternative treatments – to no avail.
She postponed surgery for two additional painful years. On the brink of desperation and close to giving in, a friend mentioned a local doctor, L. M. Graffin MD who had helped her navigate and eventually heal her chronic condition through objectively and systematically analysing her history and symptoms.
For Ada this was a window of opportunity of last resort before she may have given in to surgery.
Reviewing the history once again
Ada contacted me to help her to review her breast history objectively and set up a simple, logical and useful sequence of questions for Dr. Graffin MD to come up with his recommendations.
I was baffled. I stated that I am in no way an expert in these health related matters – I mean cancer for heaven’s sake. Both of my parents had died of cancer (and I had fears about it myself). And I frankly did not know whether I would be of any help…
But I was willing to support her and sift through her ideas in this respect and assist her in getting them sorted. As in our lessons, I would be appealing to her reasoning faculties and do what I knew about mindset and shift of focus to waken her latent powers of originality within.
It had been my personal impression, that through studying the Alexander Technique with Dr. Don Weed D.C. I had gotten somewhat more intelligent, a very fuzzy impression but undeniably an impression of mine, and it occurred to me that results in my life reflected that. In other words, I had experienced a transfer of knowledge and understanding from my studies of Mr. Alexander’s Work into other areas of my life.
The understanding of sequential thinking (or thinking step-by-step) while keeping an eye out for the hierarchy of importance of the various, dynamic factors contributing to the conditions present, had been a key revelation for me and have played an important role in my understanding of movement and health in general ever since. This could also be called the art of asking the best next question – or the best smallest possible next step.
Decisions On Life And Death
So if she was willing to accept the general rules as laid down in my medical disclaimer, willing to slow down the speed of her thinking, so that we can take the time to talk matters over under the light of logic and reasoning, and she’d claim ultimate responsibility for her decisions, then we might have a deal and work together on these lines.
Ada accepted my conditions in full, so we got down to work on her ideas, connected fears and her history (of the breast). The next thing she wanted to do was to go and meet Dr. Graffin to talk matters over with him. But Ada knew that when she was in front of authorities or has to make important and hard decisions she gets highly stressed and acts confused. Thus clarifying and simplifying was most important to make effective next step decisions. In this case, for Ada, it were decisions on life and death.
Dealing With “Authorities”
So we went over all of the ideas about it, all of her fears connected to the breast and sorted the ideas in a logical sequence. My plan with this was to involve the sincere interest and expertise of Dr. Graffin in Ada’s well being so that the two could come up with a good next step, that made sense to the medically trained expert – and to Ada.
She made the appointment and went to see Dr. Graffin. She was much less of “a deer in the headlight” than she had experienced herself formerly when seeing “authorities”.
Subsequently Dr. Graffin recommended Ada to see Dr. Martin Nock MD, M.P.H. and research dermatologist from the University of Houston which is known for its world class research center. So she made an appointment with Dr. Nock to talk matters over him.
In the mean time Ada and me had a couple of more contacts, basically to manage those many ideas going on in her head and assist her to stay as much grounded as possible under these circumstances. That helped Ada to stay grounded shortly before and throughout the upcoming meeting with Dr. Nock.
Dr. Nock discussed her history one more time and pointed out that only once in 8 years a biopsy had been made and the results to him were not really clear. He suggested to make a biopsy of the rim of the wound and analyze the cells of that epithelia. She accepted and the excisional biopsy was made and sent to a specialized laboratory for analysis.
For The 1st Time Her Intuition Said ‘YES’
The diagnosis that came out of this procedure actually said that the former diagnosis she had lived with for the past 8 years was incorrect (or no longer correct): At least by now it was Bowen’s Disease i.e. squamous cell carcinoma in situ. Dr. Nock’s treatment suggestion was then very clear: squamous cell carcinoma is a certain kind of skin cancer and he suggested her to apply an immune modulator cream (Aldara Cream) to the affected area, even though this was an unusual place for its application. Ada’s intuition for the first time said yes.
I was happy to hear that Ada was inclined to follow Dr. Nock’s suggestion, which also made a lot of sense to me. Ada went ahead and applied the topical cream. She were to use Aldara Cream 4 days a week for 6 weeks and started the treatment around 27 June 2007 until 10 August 2007. And it hurt. She had burning sensations every time she applied the cream. But, under the supervision of Dr. Nock, within 6 weeks the condition was arrested. The skin became clear.
A ‘Miracle’ had happened
In the follow-up meeting of 8 November 2007 the case was closed
The above story ended 15 years ago. Until today Ada is free from cancer with two healthy breasts. At age 75 she started climbing mountains and continues her downhill skiing. She is more committed to her vitality and health than ever. And she is still going strong.
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Ada thinks I have been instumental in getting her through to the other side of these 8 years and encourages me to publish this blog post,
as she feels others might benefit from her experience as well.
The pictures in this blogpost are private, i.e. under her personal copyright, all rights reserved. You may use them, but only respectfully and in context.
Also, while the story is true, names may have been changed to protect privacy.
Thank you for understanding.
Content disclaimer
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this post. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this post. Please also observe our Medical Disclaimer. Motion Mastery™ and the author disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post.
Mastektomie drohte endlose 8 Jahre lang
Wie eine Frau ihrem Krebs die Stirn bot
3000 Tage voller Schmerzen und Sorge
Vor mehr als 15 Jahren rief mich eine Dame an und fragte mich um Adressen von Kollegen von mir, Lehrern der AlexanderTechnik und Feldenkrais-Praktizierenden im Raum St. Gallen, wo ich damals meine Praxis hatte.
Mein eigentlicher Lebensmittelpunkt lag damals eine 3 Stunden-Reise von St. Gallen entfernt. Entsprechend hatte ich die Informationen gerne zur Verfügung gestellt, alle meine Kollegen in der Gegend genannt und gehofft, nie wieder von ihr zu hören.
Aus einem ganz einfachen Grund: Ich wollte nicht 3 Stunden reisen, um mich mit der Dame zu treffen. Aber selbstverständlich bekam eine Woche später wieder einen Anruf von besagter Dame: sie wolle eine Lektion mit mir ausmachen.
In der Vergangenheit habe ich meine Lektion gelernt, dass ich besser „Oh ja, das tue ich doch gern“ sagen sollte, wenn jemand mit mir arbeiten will. Also antwortete ich “Oh ja, das mache ich doch gerne, wie können wir uns am besten organisieren?”
Und wir vereinbarten einen Termin in den nächsten Tagen. Eigentlich war sie in der Schweiz wegen der Behandlung eines Gesundheitszustandes, den sie mir nicht weiter erläuterte. Aber sie erklärte, dass sie neben der Behandlung, der sie sich in der Paracelsus-Klinik bei St. Gallen unterzog, noch nach einer anderen Art von Unterstützung für sich selbst suchte.
Also trafen wir uns, arbeiteten zusammen, und offensichtlich war sie mit dem, was wir erreichten, zufrieden, denn sie machte weitere Termine mit mir ab während ihrer Zeit in St. Gallen.
…über London nach San Francisco
Wochen später reiste sie ab. Auf ihrem Rückweg aus der Schweiz besuchte sie einen Freund, Eugene Cash, einen Meditationslehrer aus San Francisco, der in der gleichen Meditationstradition arbeitet wie Jon Kabat Zinn.
Zu dieser Zeit lebte er in London. Und da er von ihrem Gesundheitszustand wusste, fragte er: Wie geht es Dir, was macht Deine Gesundheit? Er war besorgt, dass sich ihr Zustand verschlechtert hatte und bestand darauf, dass das so nicht weitergehen könne, da müsse sich etwas ändern. Und mit ihrer Zustimmung kontaktierte er die University of California San Francisco UCSF CAM-Abteilung für Komplementär- und Alternativmedizin. Also ging sie dorthin, kam in die Hände guter und warmherziger Ärzte, nämlich Dr. Ellen Hughes, MD, Phd, am Osher Center for Integrative Medicine an der UCSF, die sie zu einem der führenden Onkologen der UCSF brachte. Die Diagnose lautete: Paget-Krankheit der Brust (auch bekannt als Morbus Paget der Mamille), ist eine seltene Form von Krebs ist, die die Haut der Brustwarze und in der Regel den dunkleren Kreis der Haut um sie herum betrifft, den man die Areola nennt. Die freundliche, aber klare und eindeutige Empfehlung war, dass die Entfernung ihrer Brust der notwendige nächste Schritt war, wenn sie wirklich ihr Leben retten wolle.
Ihr wurde sogar ein Platz in einem Krebsforschungsprogramm angeboten, wo die notwendige Operation und medizinische Versorgung kostenlos für sie übernommen würden, da sie zu dieser Zeit keine eigene Krankenversicherung hatte.
Aber sie beschloss, die Operation zu aufzuschieben
Sortieren von Ideen aus der Ferne — long distance
Sie kontaktierte mich erneut und erkundigte sich nach der Möglichkeit, das Coaching / den Unterricht mit mir fortzusetzen, auch wenn es “nur” über Skype stattfinden könne. Da sie so freundlich darauf bestand, beschloss ich, diese Möglichkeit mehr zu erkunden, obwohl ich noch nie online unterrichtet hatte.
Über die nächsten Jahre setzten wir das gemeinsame Studium der Arbeit von F.M. Alexander via Skype fort. Ich konnte ihr bei Bewegungsschwierigkeiten mit ihrem Handgelenk helfen und ihr helfen, andere ungünstige Bewegungskonzepte zu sortieren und konstruktiver einzuordnen. Indirekt half ihr das, Probleme ihres Alltags mit Überforderung und Desorientierung besser zu bewältigen.
Sie wurde dabei widerstandsfähiger, resilienter, und konnte besser mit einander widersprechenden Anforderungen der Behandlungen konventioneller Medizin und alternativen Behandlungsformen umgehen. Mit der Zeit lernten wir uns besser kennen und das gegenseitige Vertrauen wuchs. Auch wurde klar, dass sie seit 1999, seit 6 Jahren, mit Brustkrebs konfrontiert war, und damit zu einer Entscheidung kommen musste zu der empfohlenen Mastektomie, d.h. der Entfernung ihrer rechten Brust oder in ihrer Suche nach alternativen Behandlungswegen, die sie vor der Entfernung ihrer rechten Brust retten würden und ihre Gesundheit wiederzuerlangen, Erfolg haben müsste. Sie nutzte unsere gemeinsame Arbeit für ihre Gesundheit, und meine Aufgabe wurde damit auch klarer:
Mein Gesundheitscoaching weiter zu entwickeln und viel mehr dazuzulernen.
Überzeugt, …aber nicht überzeugend
Ada vertraute mir an, dass sie im Laufe der Zeit gute Ärzte und gute, warmherzige Menschen kennengelernt hatte, aber auch andere. Der Grund, warum sie die Operation immer wieder hinausgezögert hatte, war eigentlich immer derselbe, und nicht Sturheit – obwohl ich hinzufügen möchte, dass ich schon lange vorher klein beigegeben hätte, wenn sachkundige Leute, Experten, mit mir im Tonfall der Überzeugung und dem Unterton von Wissen und Autorität sprechen.
Aber genau darum ging es: sie waren überzeugt, aber nicht überzeugend. Ada hatte immer darauf beharrt, dass sie eine Operation / Mastektomie als Mittel der Wahl akzeptieren würde, wenn die Ärzte ihr eine vernünftige Erklärung für die Entfernung ihrer Brust hätten geben können. Und anscheinend hatte sie einen hohen Respekt vor ihrem Körper, den diese Ärzte nicht in der gleichen Weise teilten
Gleichzeitig wurde der Druck für Ada aber immer größer, ihre gesundheitliche Situation immer prekärer. Inzwischen hatte sie einen Brustkrebs in fortgeschrittenem Stadium III, dabei hatte sie bereits die längste Zeit schon, seit ihrer ersten Diagnose im Jahr 1999, unter immensem Druck gelebt:
1999 war bei zwei ihrer engen Freundinnen ebenfalls Brustkrebs diagnostiziert worden; eine entschied sich für eine konventionelle Behandlung und starb innerhalb von 12 Monaten im Jahr 2000, die andere wählte einen alternativen Behandlungsplan und verstarb zwei Jahre später 2001.
Zwei weitere schmerzhafte Jahre
Schließlich ging sie wieder nach Hause, und setzte ihre täglichen Salzbäder (d.h. ein tägliches Schwimmen im Ozean) fort, um die nässende Wunde desinfiziert zu halten und die Heilung so viel wie sie verstand, zu unterstützen, während sie gleichzeitig Unsummen an Geld für alternative Behandlungen zahlte – jedoch leider ohne Erfolg.
Sie zögerte die Operation zwei weitere schmerzhafte Jahre hinaus. Am Rande der Verzweiflung und kurz vor dem Einknicken gegenüber den Autoritäten erwähnte eine Freundin ihr einen örtlichen Arzt, Dr. med. Graffin, der ihr geholfen hatte, sie durch ihren chronischen Zustand zu navigieren und schließlich zu heilen, indem er ihre Geschichte und ihre Symptome objektiv und systematisch analysierte.
Für Ada war dies ein Zeitfenster der quasi letzten Instanz, bevor sie einer Operation schliesslich zugestimmt hätte.
…und die Krankengeschichte noch einmal durchgehen
Ada kontaktierte mich, um ihr zu helfen, ihre Brustgeschichte objektiv zu überprüfen und eine einfache, logische und nützliche Abfolge von Fragen für Dr. med. Graffin aufzustellen, damit er mit ihr dann seine Empfehlungen erarbeiten könne.
Ich war ratlos und sprachlos. Ich sagte ihr, dass ich in keiner Weise ein Experte in diesen gesundheitsbezogenen Fragen bin – ich meine: Krebs, um Himmels willen. Meine beiden Eltern waren an Krebs gestorben (und ich hatte selbst Angst davor) und wusste ehrlich gesagt nicht, ob ich eine große Hilfe sein würde.
Aber ich war bereit, sie zu unterstützen und mit ihr ihre Ideen in dieser Hinsicht zu durchforsten und ihr zu helfen, sie zu sortieren. Wie in unseren Lektionen würde ich an ihre Vernunft, Logik und Argumentationsfähigkeit appellieren und das nutzen, was ich über Mindset und Fokussieren wusste, um die in ihr schlummernden Kräfte ihrer Originalität zu wecken.
Es war mein persönlicher Eindruck gewesen, dass durch das 4 jährige Studium der Alexander-Technik mit Dr. Don Weed D.C. ich etwas intelligenter geworden war, ein verschwommener Eindruck, aber unbestreitbar ein Eindruck von mir, und Ergebnisse in meinem Leben spiegelten das auch in gewisser Weise wider. Mit anderen Worten, ich hatte einen Transfer von Wissen und Verständnis aus meinem Studium von Alexanders Arbeit in andere Bereiche meines Lebens erlebt.
Das Verständnis des Schritt-für-Schritt-Denkens, also eines sequenziellen Denkens, und das die Beibehaltung der Hierarchie von Prioritäten der verschiedenen, dynamischen Faktoren, die zu den gegebenen Bedingungen beitragen, beachtet, war eine Schlüsselerfahrung für mich gewesen und hat seitdem eine wichtige Rolle in meinem Verständnis von Bewegung und Gesundheit gespielt. Im Lernprozess dieser Arbeit habe ich eine Vorgehensweise kennengelernt, die man auch als die Kunst bezeichnen könnte, die beste nächste Frage zu stellen – oder den besten, kleinstmöglich nächsten Schritt ins Auge zu fassen.
Entscheidungen über Leben und Tod
Wenn sie also bereit wäre, die allgemeinen Regeln zu akzeptieren, wie sie in meinem medizinischen Disclaimer niedergelegt sind, bereit wäre, das Denktempo zu drosseln, so dass wir uns die Zeit nehmen könnten, ihre Gedanken unter dem Licht von Vernunft, Logik und Argumentation anzusprechen, und sie die ultimative Verantwortung für ihre Entscheidungen übernehmen würde, dann hätten wir einen Deal, und wir könnten in diesem Sinne zusammenarbeiten. Ada akzeptierte meine Bedingungen vollumfänglich, und wir begannen, uns mit ihren Ideen, ihren damit verbundenen Ängsten und ihrer Geschichte (der Brust) auseinanderzusetzen.
Als nächsten Schritt wollte sie Dr. med. Graffin treffen, um sich mit ihm zu besprechen. Aber Ada wusste dass sie, wenn sie vor Behörden oder Autoritäten stand oder wichtige und harte Entscheidungen treffen musste, sie bisher sehr gestresst und konfus reagierte. Daher war es äußerst wichtig, dass wir die Schritte (angemessen) vereinfachten, damit sie die Klarheit behielt, um anschliessend wirksam Entscheidungen treffen zu können. In diesem Fall waren es für Ada Entscheidungen über Leben und Tod.
Umgang mit “Autoritäten”
Also setzten wir uns mit allen Ideen auseinander, allen ihren Ängsten, die mit der Brust verbunden waren und sortierten diese Ideen in einer logischen Reihenfolge. Mein Plan war dabei, mit einer klaren Darstellung das aufrichtige Interesse von Dr. Graffin an Adas Wohlbefinden zu wecken und seine Expertise mit einzubeziehen, damit die beiden einen guten nächsten Schritt entwerfen konnten, der dem medizinisch ausgebildeten Experten Dr. Graffin plausibel erschien – und für Ada – sinnvoll war.
Sie machte einen Termin aus und suchte Dr. Graffin auf. Es gelang ihr viel besser zu reagieren und nicht, oder sehr viel weniger wie “Wild im Scheinwerferlicht” zu stehen, als sie es früher bei sich selbst erlebt hatte, wenn sie mit ‘Autoritäten’ konfrontiert war.
Dr. Graffin empfahl Ada, Dr. Martin Nock MD, M.P.H., einen Forschungsdermatologen der University of Houston zu besuchen, die für ihr erstklassiges Forschungszentrum bekannt ist. Also vereinbarte sie einen Termin bei Dr. Nock, um mit ihm ihre Situation erneut anzuschauen.
In der Zwischenzeit hatten Ada und ich noch ein paar Kontakte, hauptsächlich, um die vielen Gedanken in ihrem Kopf einzuordnen, Ada auch zu beruhigen und sie, so weit das unter diesen Umständen möglich war, zu unterstützen, geerdet zu bleiben. Und es half Ada, kurz vor und während des bevorstehenden Treffens mit Dr. Nock geerdet zu bleiben.
Dr. Nock diskutierte mit ihr noch einmal ihre Geschichte und wies darauf hin, dass nur einmal in 8 Jahren eine Biopsie durchgeführt worden sei und die Ergebnisse für ihn nicht wirklich klar seien. Er schlug vor, eine Biopsie vom Wundrand zu machen und die Zellen dieses Epithels zu analysieren. Ada akzeptierte den Vorschlag und die exzisionale Biopsie wurde durchgeführt und zur Analyse in ein spezialisiertes Labor geschickt.
Zum ersten Mal: Ihre Intuition sagt ‘Ja‘
Die Diagnose, die aus diesem Verfahren hervorging, besagte tatsächlich, dass die frühere Diagnose, mit der sie in den letzten 8 Jahren gelebt hatte, nicht (mehr) stimmte: Zumindest inzwischen war es Bowens Krankheit, d.h. ein Plattenepithelkarzinom in situ.
Dr. Nocks Behandlungsvorschlag war dann sehr klar: Plattenepithelkarzinom ist eine bestimmte Art von Hautkrebs und er schlug ihr vor, eine Immunmodulatorcreme (Aldara Cream) auf den betroffenen Bereich anzuwenden, auch wenn dies ein eher ungewöhnlicher Anwendungsort war. Adas Intuition sagte zum ersten Mal ja.
Ich war froh zu hören, dass Ada geneigt war, Dr. Nocks Vorschlag zu folgen, der auch mir sehr sinnvoll erschien. Ada begann, die Salbe auf ihre nässende Wunde aufzutragen. Sie sollte Aldara Cream 4 Tage die Woche während 6 Wochen verwenden und begann die Behandlung am 27. Juni 2007. Die Behandlung dauerte an bis zum 10. August 2007. Und es tat weh. Jedes Mal, wenn sie die Creme auftrug, hatte sie brennende Empfindungen. Aber unter der Anleitung von Dr. Nock wurde die Situation innerhalb von 6 Wochen immer mehr eingedämmt. Die Haut wurde klar.
Ein ‘Wunder’ war geschehen
in the follow-up meeting of 8 November 2007 the case was closed
Die obige Geschichte endete vor 15 Jahren. Bis heute hat Ada zwei gesunden Brüsten und ist frei von Krebs. Im Alter von 75 Jahren begann sie mit Bergsteigen und fährt weiterhin Abfahrtski. Sie engagiert sich mehr denn je für ihre Vitalität und Gesundheit und ist immer noch vital und lebenslustig.
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Ada denkt, dass ich entscheidend dazu beigetragen habe, sie gut auf die andere Seite dieser 8 Jahre zu bringen und unterstützt mich, diesen Blog-Beitrag zu veröffentlichen,
da sie glaubt, dass auch andere von ihrer Erfahrung profitieren könnten.
Die Bilder in dieser Blogpost sind privat, d.h. in ihrem persönlichen Copyright, alle Rechte vorbehalten. Sie dürfen sie nur respektvoll und im Kontext verwenden, unter Angabe der Quelle. Auch wenn die Geschichte wahr ist, können Namen geändert worden sein, um die Privatsphäre von Personen zu schützen
Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.
Disclaimer betr. Inhalt der Blogpost
Die oben genannten Informationen werden ausschlieslich zu Informationszwecken bereitgestellt. Der Inhalt dieses Blogs stellt keine medizinische Beratung dar und Sie sollten dem Inhalt dieses Beitrags auch nicht blindlings vertrauen. Bevor Sie aufgrund des Inhalts dieses Beitrags Maßnahmen ergreifen oder unterlassen, holen Sie bitte den professionellen Rat Ihres medizinischen Erstversorgers ein. Beachten Sie unseren medizinischen Haftungsausschluss. Motion Mastery™ und der Autor lehnen jede Haftung und Verantwortung ab, die sich aus blindem Vertrauen auf den Inhalt dieses Beitrags ergibt.
How A Woman Managed Breast Cancer Head-On
3000 days of pain and worry
More than 15 years ago a lady called me up and wanted to know addresses of colleagues of mine, teachers of the AlexanderTechnique and Feldenkrais practitioners in the area of St. Gallen, where, at the time, I was running my practice. Actually, because of life circumstances I lived 3 hours away. So I gladly provided the information, named all my colleagues in the area and hoped to never hear from her again.
For a very simple reason: I didn’t want to leave home as it would have taken me 3 hs of travel to meet her.
Sure enough, a week later I got a call from that lady again and she requested to have a lesson with me. In the past I have learnt my lesson that I better say: “Oh yes, I’d love to” when someone wants to work with me.
So I said “Oh yes, I’d love to, how can we make this work?” and we made an appointment to meet in the days that followed. Actually she was in Switzerland because of the treatment of a health condition that she did not explain to me any further. But she stated that she wanted to have some different kind of support for herself besides the clinical treatment she was undergoing in the Paracelsus Clinic near St. Gallen.
So we met, we worked together, and obviously she was pleased with what we achieved, because she made further appointments during her time in St. Gallen.
via London to San Francisco
Weeks later she left. On her way back from Switzerland she visited a friend, Eugene Cash, a meditation teacher from San Francisco who is in the same meditation tradition as Jon Kabat Zinn.
London
At the time he was living in London. And as he knew about her health condition, he asked: How is your health? He was concerned that her condition was deteriorating and maintained: You cannot continue the same way, you have to make changes. And with her consent he contacted the University of California San Francisco UCSF CAM-department of complementary and alternative medicine. So she went there, got into the hands of good and good-hearted MDs, namely Dr. Ellen Hughes, MD, Phd, at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF who brought her to one of the leading oncologists of UCSF. The diagnosis was Paget disease of the breast (also known as Paget disease of the nipple or mammary Paget disease), which is a rare type of cancer involving the skin of the nipple and, usually, the darker circle of skin around it, which is called the areola.
The kind but firm recommendation was that the removal of her breast was the necessary next step, as they really wanted to save her life.
She was even offered a place in a cancer research program, where they would make the necessary operation and medical care free of charge for her, as she did not have a health insurance at the time.
But she decided to postpone the surgery.
Sorting ideas long distance
She contacted me again and inquired about the possibility of continuing lessons with me even if it were “only” via Skype.
Even though I have never done teaching long distance previously, as she nicely insisted, I decided to explore the possibility. For the next years we continued studying together the Work of F.M. Alexander. I could help her with movement difficulties of her wrist and could help her sort other ideas about movement performance which in turn helped her with issues of overwhelm and confusion in her day-to-day.. She also got more resilient managing contradictory pressures of treatment demands from conventional and alternative medicine. In time we got to know and trust each other a little more. It became clear over time that since 1999, for the past 6 years, she was struggling with mammary cancer, having to decide on the recommended mastectomy i.e. removal of her right breast or finding alternative treatment pathways to save her from removal of her right breast and recover her health.
Actually she used our work together for her health, and thus my task became clearer:
to cultivate health coaching and learn much more.
Convinced but not convincing…
Ada confided to me that she had met good doctors and good people, but also others. The reason why she postponed surgery time and again was always the same, and not stubbornness – though I would like to add, if it would have been me in her place, I’d have given in some time along the way already when knowledgeable people, experts, talk to me in a tone f voice that is authoritative and the expert seems so convinced … .
But that exactly was the point: they were convinced, but not convincing. Ada had always held the position that she would accept surgery as a means, when the doctors could give her a reasonable explanation for removing her breast. And apparently she had a high respect for her body that those doctors did not share in the same way.
Though the pressure for Ada was mounting, as the situation of her health had turned more and more precarious. By now she had developed an advanced stage 3 breast cancer, and she already had lived most of the years since her first diagnosis in 1999 under immense pressure:
In 1999 two of her close friends had also been diagnosed with breast cancer; one chose conventional treatment and died within 12 months in 2000, the other chose an alternative treatment plan and died two years later.
Two additional painful years
Eventually she went back home to where she lived and continued with her daily salt baths (i.e. the daily swims in the ocean) to keep the oozing wound disinfected and support healing as much as she understood while paying tons of money to alternative treatments – to no avail.
She postponed surgery for two additional painful years. On the brink of desperation and close to giving in, a friend mentioned a local doctor, L. M. Graffin MD who had helped her navigate and eventually heal her chronic condition through objectively and systematically analysing her history and symptoms.
For Ada this was a window of opportunity of last resort before she may have given in to surgery.
Reviewing the history once again
Ada contacted me to help her to review her breast history objectively and set up a simple, logical and useful sequence of questions for Dr. Graffin MD to come up with his recommendations.
I was baffled. I stated that I am in no way an expert in these health related matters – I mean cancer for heaven’s sake. Both of my parents had died of cancer (and I had fears about it myself). And I frankly did not know whether I would be of any help…
But I was willing to support her and sift through her ideas in this respect and assist her in getting them sorted. As in our lessons, I would be appealing to her reasoning faculties and do what I knew about mindset and shift of focus to waken her latent powers of originality within.
It had been my personal impression, that through studying the Alexander Technique with Dr. Don Weed D.C. I had gotten somewhat more intelligent, a very fuzzy impression but undeniably an impression of mine, and it occurred to me that results in my life reflected that. In other words, I had experienced a transfer of knowledge and understanding from my studies of Mr. Alexander’s Work into other areas of my life.
The understanding of sequential thinking (or thinking step-by-step) while keeping an eye out for the hierarchy of importance of the various, dynamic factors contributing to the conditions present, had been a key revelation for me and have played an important role in my understanding of movement and health in general ever since. This could also be called the art of asking the best next question – or the best smallest possible next step.
Decisions On Life And Death
So if she was willing to accept the general rules as laid down in my medical disclaimer, willing to slow down the speed of her thinking, so that we can take the time to talk matters over under the light of logic and reasoning, and she’d claim ultimate responsibility for her decisions, then we might have a deal and work together on these lines.
Ada accepted my conditions in full, so we got down to work on her ideas, connected fears and her history (of the breast). The next thing she wanted to do was to go and meet Dr. Graffin to talk matters over with him. But Ada knew that when she was in front of authorities or has to make important and hard decisions she gets highly stressed and acts confused. Thus clarifying and simplifying was most important to make effective next step decisions. In this case, for Ada, it were decisions on life and death.
Dealing With “Authorities”
So we went over all of the ideas about it, all of her fears connected to the breast and sorted the ideas in a logical sequence. My plan with this was to involve the sincere interest and expertise of Dr. Graffin in Ada’s well being so that the two could come up with a good next step, that made sense to the medically trained expert – and to Ada.
She made the appointment and went to see Dr. Graffin. She was much less of “a deer in the headlight” than she had experienced herself formerly when seeing “authorities”.
Subsequently Dr. Graffin recommended Ada to see Dr. Martin Nock MD, M.P.H. and research dermatologist from the University of Houston which is known for its world class research center. So she made an appointment with Dr. Nock to talk matters over him.
In the mean time Ada and me had a couple of more contacts, basically to manage those many ideas going on in her head and assist her to stay as much grounded as possible under these circumstances. That helped Ada to stay grounded shortly before and throughout the upcoming meeting with Dr. Nock.
Dr. Nock discussed her history one more time and pointed out that only once in 8 years a biopsy had been made and the results to him were not really clear. He suggested to make a biopsy of the rim of the wound and analyze the cells of that epithelia. She accepted and the excisional biopsy was made and sent to a specialized laboratory for analysis.
For The 1st Time Her Intuition Said ‘YES’
The diagnosis that came out of this procedure actually said that the former diagnosis she had lived with for the past 8 years was incorrect (or no longer correct): At least by now it was Bowen’s Disease i.e. squamous cell carcinoma in situ. Dr. Nock’s treatment suggestion was then very clear: squamous cell carcinoma is a certain kind of skin cancer and he suggested her to apply an immune modulator cream (Aldara Cream) to the affected area, even though this was an unusual place for its application. Ada’s intuition for the first time said yes.
I was happy to hear that Ada was inclined to follow Dr. Nock’s suggestion, which also made a lot of sense to me. Ada went ahead and applied the topical cream. She were to use Aldara Cream 4 days a week for 6 weeks and started the treatment around 27 June 2007 until 10 August 2007. And it hurt. She had burning sensations every time she applied the cream. But, under the supervision of Dr. Nock, within 6 weeks the condition was arrested. The skin became clear.
A ‘Miracle’ had happened
in the follow-up meeting of 8 November 2007 the case was closed
The above story ended 15 years ago. Until today Ada is free from cancer with two healthy breasts. At age 75 she started climbing mountains and continues her downhill skiing. She is more committed to her vitality and health than ever. And she is still going strong.
_________________________________
Ada thinks I have been instumental in getting her through to the other side of these 8 years and encourages me to publish this blog post,
as she feels others might benefit from her experience as well.
The pictures in this blogpost are private, i.e. under her personal copyright, all rights reserved. You may use them only respectfully and in context.
Also, while the story is true, names may have been changed to protect privacy.
Thank you for understanding.
Content disclaimer
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this post. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this post. Please also observe our Medical Disclaimer. Motion Mastery™ and the author disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post.
How A Woman Managed Breast Cancer Head-On
3000 days of pain and worry
More than 15 years ago a lady called me up and wanted to know addresses of colleagues of mine, teachers of the AlexanderTechnique and Feldenkrais practitioners in the area of St. Gallen, where, at the time, I was running my practice. Actually, because of life circumstances I lived 3 hours away. So I gladly provided the information, named all my colleagues in the area and hoped to never hear from her again.
For a very simple reason: I didn’t want to leave home as it would have taken me 3 hs of travel to meet her.
Sure enough, a week later I got a call from that lady again and she requested to have a lesson with me. In the past I have learnt my lesson that I better say: “Oh yes, I’d love to” when someone wants to work with me.
So I said “Oh yes, I’d love to, how can we make this work?” and we made an appointment to meet in the days that followed. Actually she was in Switzerland because of the treatment of a health condition that she did not explain to me any further. But she stated that she wanted to have some different kind of support for herself besides the clinical treatment she was undergoing in the Paracelsus Clinic near St. Gallen.
So we met, we worked together, and obviously she was pleased with what we achieved, because she made further appointments during her time in St. Gallen.
via London to San Francisco
Weeks later she left. On her way back from Switzerland she visited a friend, Eugene Cash, a meditation teacher from San Francisco who is in the same meditation tradition as Jon Kabat Zinn.
London
At the time he was living in London. And as he knew about her health condition, he asked: How is your health? He was concerned that her condition was deteriorating and maintained: You cannot continue the same way, you have to make changes. And with her consent he contacted the University of California San Francisco UCSF CAM-department of complementary and alternative medicine. So she went there, got into the hands of good and good-hearted MDs, namely Dr. Ellen Hughes, MD, Phd, at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF who brought her to one of the leading oncologists of UCSF. The diagnosis was Paget disease of the breast (also known as Paget disease of the nipple or mammary Paget disease), which is a rare type of cancer involving the skin of the nipple and, usually, the darker circle of skin around it, which is called the areola.
The kind but firm recommendation was that the removal of her breast was the necessary next step, as they really wanted to save her life.
She was even offered a place in a cancer research program, where they would make the necessary operation and medical care free of charge for her, as she did not have a health insurance at the time.
But she decided to postpone the surgery.
Sorting ideas long distance
She contacted me again and inquired about the possibility of continuing lessons with me even if it were “only” via Skype.
Even though I have never done teaching long distance previously, as she nicely insisted, I decided to explore the possibility. For the next years we continued studying together the Work of F.M. Alexander. I could help her with movement difficulties of her wrist and could help her sort other ideas about movement performance which in turn helped her with issues of overwhelm and confusion in her day-to-day.. She also got more resilient managing contradictory pressures of treatment demands from conventional and alternative medicine. In time we got to know and trust each other a little more. It became clear over time that since 1999, for the past 6 years, she was struggling with mammary cancer, having to decide on the recommended mastectomy i.e. removal of her right breast or finding alternative treatment pathways to save her from removal of her right breast and recover her health.
Actually she used our work together for her health, and thus my task became clearer:
to cultivate health coaching and learn much more.
Convinced but not convincing…
Ada confided to me that she had met good doctors and good people, but also others. The reason why she postponed surgery time and again was always the same, and not stubbornness – though I would like to add, if it would have been me in her place, I’d have given in some time along the way already when knowledgeable people, experts, talk to me in a tone f voice that is authoritative and the expert seems so convinced … .
But that exactly was the point: they were convinced, but not convincing. Ada had always held the position that she would accept surgery as a means, when the doctors could give her a reasonable explanation for removing her breast. And apparently she had a high respect for her body that those doctors did not share in the same way.
Though the pressure for Ada was mounting, as the situation of her health had turned more and more precarious. By now she had developed an advanced stage 3 breast cancer, and she already had lived most of the years since her first diagnosis in 1999 under immense pressure:
In 1999 two of her close friends had also been diagnosed with breast cancer; one chose conventional treatment and died within 12 months in 2000, the other chose an alternative treatment plan and died two years later.
Two additional painful years
Eventually she went back home to where she lived and continued with her daily salt baths (i.e. the daily swims in the ocean) to keep the oozing wound disinfected and support healing as much as she understood while paying tons of money to alternative treatments – to no avail.
She postponed surgery for two additional painful years. On the brink of desperation and close to giving in, a friend mentioned a local doctor, L. M. Graffin MD who had helped her navigate and eventually heal her chronic condition through objectively and systematically analysing her history and symptoms.
For Ada this was a window of opportunity of last resort before she may have given in to surgery.
Reviewing the history once again
Ada contacted me to help her to review her breast history objectively and set up a simple, logical and useful sequence of questions for Dr. Graffin MD to come up with his recommendations.
I was baffled. I stated that I am in no way an expert in these health related matters – I mean cancer for heaven’s sake. Both of my parents had died of cancer (and I had fears about it myself). And I frankly did not know whether I would be of any help…
But I was willing to support her and sift through her ideas in this respect and assist her in getting them sorted. As in our lessons, I would be appealing to her reasoning faculties and do what I knew about mindset and shift of focus to waken her latent powers of originality within.
It had been my personal impression, that through studying the Alexander Technique with Dr. Don Weed D.C. I had gotten somewhat more intelligent, a very fuzzy impression but undeniably an impression of mine, and it occurred to me that results in my life reflected that. In other words, I had experienced a transfer of knowledge and understanding from my studies of Mr. Alexander’s Work into other areas of my life.
The understanding of sequential thinking (or thinking step-by-step) while keeping an eye out for the hierarchy of importance of the various, dynamic factors contributing to the conditions present, had been a key revelation for me and have played an important role in my understanding of movement and health in general ever since. This could also be called the art of asking the best next question – or the best smallest possible next step.
Decisions On Life And Death
So if she was willing to accept the general rules as laid down in my medical disclaimer, willing to slow down the speed of her thinking, so that we can take the time to talk matters over under the light of logic and reasoning, and she’d claim ultimate responsibility for her decisions, then we might have a deal and work together on these lines.
Ada accepted my conditions in full, so we got down to work on her ideas, connected fears and her history (of the breast). The next thing she wanted to do was to go and meet Dr. Graffin to talk matters over with him. But Ada knew that when she was in front of authorities or has to make important and hard decisions she gets highly stressed and acts confused. Thus clarifying and simplifying was most important to make effective next step decisions. In this case, for Ada, it were decisions on life and death.
Dealing With “Authorities”
So we went over all of the ideas about it, all of her fears connected to the breast and sorted the ideas in a logical sequence. My plan with this was to involve the sincere interest and expertise of Dr. Graffin in Ada’s well being so that the two could come up with a good next step, that made sense to the medically trained expert – and to Ada.
She made the appointment and went to see Dr. Graffin. She was much less of “a deer in the headlight” than she had experienced herself formerly when seeing “authorities”.
Subsequently Dr. Graffin recommended Ada to see Dr. Martin Nock MD, M.P.H. and research dermatologist from the University of Houston which is known for its world class research center. So she made an appointment with Dr. Nock to talk matters over him.
In the mean time Ada and me had a couple of more contacts, basically to manage those many ideas going on in her head and assist her to stay as much grounded as possible under these circumstances. That helped Ada to stay grounded shortly before and throughout the upcoming meeting with Dr. Nock.
Dr. Nock discussed her history one more time and pointed out that only once in 8 years a biopsy had been made and the results to him were not really clear. He suggested to make a biopsy of the rim of the wound and analyze the cells of that epithelia. She accepted and the excisional biopsy was made and sent to a specialized laboratory for analysis.
For The 1st Time Her Intuition Said ‘YES’
The diagnosis that came out of this procedure actually said that the former diagnosis she had lived with for the past 8 years was incorrect (or no longer correct): At least by now it was Bowen’s Disease i.e. squamous cell carcinoma in situ. Dr. Nock’s treatment suggestion was then very clear: squamous cell carcinoma is a certain kind of skin cancer and he suggested her to apply an immune modulator cream (Aldara Cream) to the affected area, even though this was an unusual place for its application. Ada’s intuition for the first time said yes.
I was happy to hear that Ada was inclined to follow Dr. Nock’s suggestion, which also made a lot of sense to me. Ada went ahead and applied the topical cream. She were to use Aldara Cream 4 days a week for 6 weeks and started the treatment around 27 June 2007 until 10 August 2007. And it hurt. She had burning sensations every time she applied the cream. But, under the supervision of Dr. Nock, within 6 weeks the condition was arrested. The skin became clear.
A ‘Miracle’ had happened
in the follow-up meeting of 8 November 2007 the case was closed
The above story ended 15 years ago. Until today Ada is free from cancer with two healthy breasts. At age 75 she started climbing mountains and continues her downhill skiing. She is more committed to her vitality and health than ever. And she is still going strong.
_________________________________
Ada thinks I have been instumental in getting her through to the other side of these 8 years and encourages me to publish this blog post,
as she feels others might benefit from her experience as well.
The pictures in this blogpost are private, i.e. under her personal copyright, all rights reserved. You may use them, but only respectfully and in context. Also, while the story is true, names may have been changed to protect privacy.
Thank you for understanding.
Content disclaimer
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this post. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this post. Please also observe our Medical Disclaimer. Motion Mastery™ and the author disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post.
What else might be needed? 
The only real difference, and this will blow you away, what they thought about getting older.
we think … we should.
