I received an email from a friend, telling me her daughter has cancer. Many people suffer this tragedy in our world. What I wrote to her might help you too.
Dear xxxxx,
I am terribly sorry about your daughter's problem. Here are a few things that might help her:
* Cancer is not a death sentence but a life-threatening illness. Even people with 'inoperable' cancers can have a 'remission' and live for many years after. I know several like that.
* Cancer occurs because the immune system is unable to cope with an eruption of rogue cells. These arise from one or more of many reasons. I think the epidemic of cancer is Nature fighting back: we have been putting poisons in air, food and water for over 50 years, releasing radiation, etc. and all these are getting back at us. So, if you want to reduce the number of people at risk from cancer, you MUST become an environmentalist.
* Rogue cells arise every day in every person, but normally the immune system squashes them before they can get away. The problem occurs if there are too many 'hot spots' all at once, and/or if the immune system is depressed for some reason.
* There are complex, two-way chemical links between the brain centres controlling emotion, the immune system and the digestive system. The hypothalamus in the brain is a 'switching centre' for emotions. It has receptor sites that respond to hormones released from white blood cells, lymph nodes, the spleen, and the lining of the intestines. And all of these have receptor sites for chemical messengers from the hypothalamus.
* This gives the key to fighting cancer. You need to get your brain to send encouraging chemicals to the immune system.
The worst attitude is the 'chip on the shoulder': it's not fair, why me? Anger is very counter-productive.
The ideal attitude is a sort of a paradox: calm acceptance combined with vigorous fight. Get her to do lots of meditation, stilling her mind. She should try to accept that this misfortune has happened. She may not win against it, but then, everyone has to die sometime. And, in our world, the young are not protected. At the same time, she should follow up every avenue of fighting back. Determination and stoicism are the combination that will beat cancer, if anything will.
* Others have done this. So can she.
Thinking of you,
Bob